Touch the Moon at NASA's Exhibit in Atlanta and Carrollton, GA

/PRNewswire/ -- Georgians have the rare chance to touch a nearly 4-billion-year-old piece of moon rock at NASA's Driven to Explore traveling exhibit, a mobile, multi-media experience that immerses visitors in the story of NASA.

The exhibit will be at the Fernbank Science Center in Atlanta on Thursday, May 5, and Friday, May 6, noon to 10 p.m. EDT. It also will be at the Mayfest Arts and Crafts Festival in Carrollton, Ga. on Saturday, May 7, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The centerpiece of Driven to Explore is the opportunity to touch a lunar rock sample brought to Earth by the astronauts of Apollo 17 in 1972, America's last human mission to the moon. The rock is one of only eight lunar samples made available for the public to touch.

Driven to Explore allows visitors to learn why we explore, discover the challenges of human space exploration and how NASA provides critical technological advances to improve life on Earth. The exhibit also details the accomplishments of the space shuttle and the International Space Station.

As the space shuttle approaches retirement, NASA is investing in the building blocks of a more capable approach to space exploration, including research and development to increase space travel capabilities. In support of these efforts, NASA is performing field tests, designing surface systems and conducting advanced human research to ensure that future missions are safe, sustainable and affordable.

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Moon Rock Gains Traveling Companion for Historic Return to Space

/PRNewswire/ -- A moon rock collected during the historic Apollo 11 mission more than 40 years ago will be heading back to space and a new home aboard the International Space Station, sharing quarters with a piece of Mt. Everest.

On May 20, 2009, former NASA astronaut Scott Parazynski carried the rock to the top of Mt. Everest where he collected a rock from the world's highest mountain to accompany the lunar sample for its return to space.

During an event Jan. 6 at Space Center Houston, Parazynski will present both rocks to NASA astronaut and STS-130 mission Commander George Zamka. Zamka will deliver the rocks to the space station during space shuttle Endeavour's mission next month.

Collected from the Sea of Tranquility on the lunar surface, the moon rock and its Mt. Everest companion will be displayed inside the station's Tranquility module, which the STS-130 crew will deliver to the station.

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