Shuttle Pavilion Opening Ceremony and SpaceFest aboard Intrepid

Yesterday marked the official welcome of the Space Shuttle Enterprise and the opening of its new temporary home in the dome aboard the Intrepid Sea Air & Space Museum's flight deck.  Gathered to welcome her were 3 of the 4 original Enterprise astronauts as well as representatives of the week-long SpaceFest, from Samsung and Time Warner Cable.  Here are some of the images of the day:

A very proud and happy Susan Marenoff-Zausner, President of Intrepid, officially announcing the opening of the Space Shuttle Pavilion.

Panorama of the stage and audience.  Center right is the Aircraft Restoration tent.  Shuttle Pavilion is whiter dome next to it, on the aft flight deck.

Surprise guest of one of the astronauts, Dr. Ruth Westheimer.

Joyful ribbon cutting ceremony followed by the opening to the media, and then the public.

Day one, hour one, of the new Space Shuttle Pavilion.

My husband, Eric Boehm, Curator of Aviation and Aircraft Restoration, with Astronaut Mike Massimino, a veteran of two Space Shuttle missions, both of which serviced the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), including the historic final repair mission.  Mike also appeared (as himself) on two episodes of Eric's favorite TV show, The Big Bang Theory.

Astronauts Mario Runco, Jr. and Jeffrey A. Hoffman conducted a Q&A session in the Lutnick Theater aboard Intrepid.

SpaceFest booths were set up on the Pier and in the Exploreum, where parents and students alike were introduced to science experiments and space information, much of it offered by NASA employees.

Young science students learning about space at one of NASA's many booths on the Pier.

Members of the Mount Olive Robotics team using one of their many robots to remotely pick up and transport inflated objects, to the delight of the crowd on the Pier.

Science teacher amazing these young boys with his demonstration of how to create a tornado inside a pair of soda bottles.

Two young girls wearing colorful sneakers walked by just as I was about to photograph this graphic on the pier.  Nice touch!

One of the many NASA booths which were well attended by eager-to-learn visitors to Intrepid.

The Pier was lined with SpaceFest booths.  The Concorde can be seen at the end of the Pier.

This family had fun with the astronaut photo-op display.

Young girl asking questions of a representative from the James Webb Space Telescope Company.

Presentation inside "The Future of Human Space Exploration" geodesic dome.

 For more Intrepid events, please see my website .. http://www.proofpositivephoto.com/ .. Under "Gallery" and then "Events at Intrepid".  Thanks!