Visitors are invited to touch the moon at the America Pavilion
A rock from space that is 3.8 billion years old
A piece of rock brought to Earth by the Apollo 17 astronauts in 1972. Photo: Youssef Al Harmoudi
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Visitors to the Expo 2020 Dubai will be able to touch the moon and see a number of human achievements in the field of space and aviation at the US pavilion.
In addition to displaying innovation, technology, history and culture in the United States, visitors to the pavilion can touch a piece of lunar rock, which was brought to Earth during NASA's space shuttle flights to the moon.
Under the title "Touch the Moon", the United States pavilion reviews the history of space flights, and visitors can view live and modern images of the solar system, the moon and the planet Mars, and also allows touching an important piece of moon rocks, about 3.8 billion years old, which is the piece that was brought to the Earth by the crew of Apollo 17 astronauts in 1972, on their last mission to the moon.
During a visit to the pavilion, visitors can learn about and touch the story of that rock.
Between December 11 and 14, 1972, the Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmidt explored an area called the "Sea of Serenity" on the surface of the moon, a dark plain on the surface of the moon.
During the exploration process, Schmidt, a geologist, noticed a rock that distinguished itself from others due to its distinctive shape and large size, only to discover later that the rock was about 3.8 billion years old, and it is considered older than 99% of the rocks on the surface of the Earth, and the piece is one of the largest samples It was brought from the Moon, and is one of only 11 specimens in the world.
And the administration of the American pavilion decided to bring this rock to the Expo 2020 Dubai, so that visitors can see and touch it, in an experience that simulates their presence on the moon from Dubai.
The US space agency (NASA) says it plans to land astronauts on the moon as part of its "Artemis" program, where the results from the missions of this program will help achieve the next space leap, which is to send astronauts to Mars.
During a visit to the pavilion, visitors can see a replica of the American "Persevierance" probe to explore Mars, and they can view the first 360-degree panoramic image, taken by NASA's "Probe" on February 21.
It's a high-resolution image, taken from a cavity called "island" on the planet Mars, and collected on Earth from 142 individual images by a multilateral stereo imaging instrument, called the Mastcam-Z, during the mission's third Martian day.
Visitors to the pavilion will see a replica of the "Falcon 9" rocket, launched by SpaceX, the first first-class orbital missile capable of re-flying, which is the highest element above the ground in "Expo 2020 Dubai", where it is At 14 stories high, the Falcon 9 is the most flying missile in the United States of America, surpassing the consumables launched decades ago.