NASA Goes to Super Bowl 2017 (Photos)

NASA Touches Down at Super Bowl Festival

NASA Photographer Robert Markowitz

NASA and other spaceflight companies threw a spaced-out, football-themed festival called Super Bowl LIVE in Houston, Texas during the nine days leading up to the Super Bowl LI football game (Jan. 28 to Feb. 5). Pictured here is Johnson Space Center's exhibit, featuring a spacesuit and Robonaut.

Space Launch System

NASA Photographer Robert Markowitz

NASA's Future Flight exhibit at the Super Bowl LIVE festival featured the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket that will take astronauts to Mars someday.

Orion Crew Module

NASA Photographer Robert Markowitz

Pictured here is NASA's Orion capsule that will launch atop the SLS to take astronauts to Mars and back. The module is on display at the Super Bowl LIVE festival.

Lunar & Planetary Research Vehicle

NASA Photographer Robert Markowitz

A research vehicle designed to conduct science on the moon and other planets is on display as part of NASA's exhibits at Super Bowl LIVE.

Journey to Mars!

NASA Photographer Robert Markowitz

The Orion Virtual Reality Journey to Mars ride is part of the NASA exhibits at Super Bowl LIVE. The realistic ride with virtual reality glasses give riders the experience of a Journey to Mars.

Virtual Mars Explorers

NASA Photographer Bill Stafford

With virtual reality googles in place, Johnson Space Center Director Ellen Ochoa and Kennedy Space Center Director Robert Cabana prepare for the Journey to Mars ride.

Virtual Mars Explorers

NASA Photographer Bill Stafford

Ready to take the Journey to Mars and back, NASA's Kennedy Space Center Director Robert Cabana (far right), Johnson Space Center Director Ellen Ochoa, Marshall Space Flight Center Director Todd May and the Orion Program Manager Mark Kirasich have been fitted with virtual headsets and are ready for the flight to begin. The Orion capsule hoists riders 90 feet (27 meters) high before dropping them to simulate a Mars landing.

Mark III Spacesuit

NASA

NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Director Todd May tries out the Mark III advanced space suit photo opportunity.

NASA Officials Attend Super Bowl LIVE

NASA Photographer Bill Stafford

NASA Center Directors and the Orion Program Manager watch the NASA Super Bowl Virtual Reality ride. Kennedy Space Center Director Robert Cabana, Johnson Space Center Director Ellen Ochoa, Marshall Space Flight Center Director Todd May and Orion Program Manager Mark Kirasich all enjoy the sight as they prepare to take the journey themselves on Jan. 30.

Line Up for the Journey to Mars

NASA Photographer Robert Markowitz

Crowds of visitors line up for the NASA Orion Journey to Mars ride at the Super Bowl LIVE event on Discovery Green park on Jan. 27.

Super Bowl LIVE

NASA Photographer Bill Stafford

Super Bowl LIVE is a nine-day fan festival running Jan. 28 through Feb. 5 at Discovery Green park in Houston, Texas. NASA is collaborated with the Houston Super Bowl Host Committee to share the space agency's contributions with the community. Several of NASA's industry partners sponsoring Future Flight also have assets on display.

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Hanneke Weitering
Contributing expert

Hanneke Weitering is a multimedia journalist in the Pacific Northwest reporting on the future of aviation at FutureFlight.aero and Aviation International News and was previously the Editor for Spaceflight and Astronomy news here at Space.com. As an editor with over 10 years of experience in science journalism she has previously written for Scholastic Classroom Magazines, MedPage Today and The Joint Institute for Computational Sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. After studying physics at the University of Tennessee in her hometown of Knoxville, she earned her graduate degree in Science, Health and Environmental Reporting (SHERP) from New York University. Hanneke joined the Space.com team in 2016 as a staff writer and producer, covering topics including spaceflight and astronomy. She currently lives in Seattle, home of the Space Needle, with her cat and two snakes. In her spare time, Hanneke enjoys exploring the Rocky Mountains, basking in nature and looking for dark skies to gaze at the cosmos.