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On June 4, 2023, the Monmouth Museum officially opened the Garrett Reisman Center for Air & Space! Garrett Reisman is a New Jersey native who is a NASA Astronaut, Senior Advisor at SpaceX and Technical Consultant for Apple TV+’s For All Mankind. Reisman attended public schools in Parsippany and credits his high school physics teacher, Jerry Vander Voort, for imparting to him a love of science.

“We are so excited to have Garrett join us as we celebrate the opening of the Garrett Reisman Center for Air & Space at the Monmouth Museum,” said Erika Schaefer, the executive director of the Monmouth Museum. “He has gone above and beyond to help us inspire our community’s children to explore careers in STEAM.”

The exhibit, which has been carefully designed for all ages, features Reisman’s NASA flightsuit as well as his Russian flightsuit, which was from STS-124 as part of Expedition 17 on the International Space Station. The Race to Space is highlighted, with emphasis on other local connections, including the Executive Director’s great uncle, Joe Altilio, who worked for Grumman on the Lunar Space Module in 1969. In addition to NASA artifacts, such as an Apollo glove and helmet, the exhibit has an impressive collection of Lego models. Domenic Ranieri of Oceanport meticulously constructed the International Space Station, Saturn 5 Rocket, and Lunar Lander, which are on display.

Children can also create at the constellation tables, go inside a replica Friendship 7 capsule and learn about John Glenn’s orbit around the Earth in 1962, try an astronaut simulator in a newly constructed “spaceship,” take an astronomy quiz at the iPad table, learn about gravity with an interactive apples display, and more.

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