28 Jan UND will host third annual Aerospace Community Day Feb. 8
Aerospace Community Day last year saw more than 3,000 attendees — of all ages — tour and experience the University’s highest-flying School
What: Aerospace Community Day at the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences
When: 10 a.m. – 3 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 8
Where: All UND Aerospace campus buildings in Grand Forks
Parking: Free public parking available in all UND Aerospace parking lots
Background:
The John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences will host its third annual Aerospace Community Day with doors opening 10 a.m., Friday, Feb. 8, at the campus’s Aerospace buildings and UND Aerospace Flight Operations at Grand Forks International Airport.
Last year, Aerospace Community Day saw more than 3,000 attendees — of all ages — tour and experience the thrills of UND Aerospace. Admission to the event is free and spans Odegard, Clifford, Ryan and Robin Halls on campus.
Entrances will be marked by green or black UND Aerospace flags.
To reach UND Flight Operations at the airport, free transportation will pick up and drop off at Clifford Hall throughout the day.
At the entrances, attendees will check in and pick up an Aerospace Passport. Fly aircraft simulators, forecast the weather, pilot a drone and much more to stamp your passport. The Aerospace Passport will be the guide to a day full of fun and prizes.
Youth-sized shirts will be given to the first 600 kids who check in. All children must be accompanied by an adult.
Associate Dean of UND Aerospace, Beth Bjerke, said she thinks of Aerospace Community Day as a pop-up air and space museum that shows the community all that’s happening at the nation’s leading flight school.
“We are looking forward to hosting the Greater Grand Forks community for our third annual UND Aerospace Community Day,” she said. “This has proven to be a great way for us to open our doors and invite the public to learn about what’s happening at UND, all while giving them hands-on aerospace experiences.”
New to this year’s event is the recently unveiled Virtual Reality Lab in Odegard Hall, featuring immersive flight stations. Another VR experience hosted in Space Studies will take participants to the stars, and attendees will also have the chance to hold a real sample of lunar rocks brought to Earth by Apollo astronauts.
Touring the hangars at UND Flight Operations will offer an up-close look at UND’s top-of-the-line aircraft, as well as a “Doppler on Wheels” used for a variety of storm research. The mobile radar station, sought after nationwide, is currently on campus for a blizzard-chasing research project.
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David L. Dodds
Director of Communications
UND Today
Division of Marketing & Communications
University of North Dakota
david.dodds@UND.edu
O: 701.777.5529
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