Tours of Ames

If you are interested in touring Ames, or in arranging tours for other people, there's plenty to see.

HOWEVER, it is NOT a good idea to just show up at these places.  Remember, people work here, so be considerate.  Also, some of the work that gets done at NASA is subject to ITAR restrictions, or is otherwise sensitive, so if you drop in unannounced with a crowd of onlookers you could get yourself in legal trouble, or at least embarrass yourself severely.  All of this should be obvious.

So, please work with people to actually set up the tours.  Your intern coordinator or HR rep, if applicable, should have some leads.  If you set something up, please invite others through the arc-nextgen-info Listserv Guidelines. 

Also, when you're on a tour, it's a good idea to ask first before you start taking pictures and/or shooting video.  Most things can be photographed, but not everything.  Similarly, ask about any special rules for cell phones.  Most of the time, it's good practice to mute your phone when you're on a tour, but there are also places where you need to turn them off entirely.

Good places to tour:  (If you have point-of-contact information, feel free to add it.)

80 x 120 wind tunnel

Vertical Motion Simulator / Future Flight Central

Supercomputing / Hyperwall2

Modular Common Spacecraft Bus

Hangars 2 & 3

Bad places to tour:

Hangar One

Hangar One, the big building shaped like a Twinkie (a Twinkie big enough to satisfy King Kong's munchies), is closed to the public.  It is not only a violation of NASA policy to enter, it is also illegal and unsafe.  It's fine to look from outside the fence, but don't even try to go inside.