Sol System Caravansary

The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration—better known by its NASA moniker—is making ready to dazzle AirVenture attendees with a series of attractions and displays worthy of the agency’s $32.5-billion 2023 budget.

In addition to displays of unique aircraft and advanced technologies, EAA’s 24-through-30 July throwdown at Oshkosh, Wisconsin’s Wittman Regional Airport (OSH) will see NASA tender a salmagundi of marvels by which the agency will highlight the saliency of space in the aerospace hierarchy.

NASA’s AirVenture 2023 campaign will be anchored at its pavilion in Aviation Gateway Park, just northwest of the FAA VFR control tower on the AirVenture grounds. Additional exhibits and programs will be showcased throughout the week at various OSH locations.

NASA’s EAA AirVenture 2023 offerings include:

Monday, 24 July: 20:00 CDT: Theater in the Woods: NASA – The Next Bold Step will afford audiences an overview of the agency’s Apollo and Artemis programs and trace America’s lunar odyssey from Neil Armstrong’s first-step to Artemis III’s next step on Earth’s moon. Hosted by former space shuttle commander Charlie Precourt, the program will include NASA Associate Administrator Bob Cabana, Apollo 16 astronaut Charlie Duke, Apollo program personnel Gerry Griffin and Rick Weiss, and Artemis program contributors Dr. John Blevins, Alex Kanelakos, and Dr. Ryan Watkins.

Tuesday, 25 July: 14:30 CDT: Forum Pavilion 7: Artemis Audience Astronauts will address Artemis program missions and scientific objectives, pre-launch preparations, crew training, and research aims to which Artemis crews will attend. Experts in lunar and Mars mission planning and spacecraft development will disclose the conditions and challenges Artemis crews will face over the courses of their lunar residencies, and the manners in which long-duration Artemis missions will function as analogs for manned missions to Mars.

Monday-Wednesday, 24-26 July: Boeing Plaza: NASA Super Guppy on static-display at Boeing Plaza. AirVenture attendees will enjoy close-up looks at one of the world’s most unique and iconic cargo aircraft. The Super Guppy carries large spaceship components—to include a full-size test article of the Orion space capsule—between production and launch facilities.

Wednesday, 26 July: 11:30 CDT:  Forum Pavilion 8: Preparing to Fly the X-59 will feature NASA research test pilot David “Nils” Larson, who will discuss NASA’s preparations for the first flight of the agency’s X-59 quiet supersonic demonstrator aircraft. The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst program—a test-flight program embarked upon for purpose of fathoming the viability of near-future supersonic flight over land.

Thursday, 27 July: 20:30 CDT: Forum Pavilion 8: NASA Wicked Aeronautics Innovation focuses on the Convergent Aeronautics Solutions project—an agency initiative ascribed the worryingly nebulous purpose of “exploring various opportunities for aviation transformations for the good of American society.” Persisting in the vein of obscurity, NASA states of  Convergent Aeronautics Solutions project: “These high-risk expeditions aim to illuminate paths to desirable futures enabled by aviation, as well as the future of flight itself.”

FMI: www.EAA.org