NASA plans Space Day celebration

WASHINGTON, April 29 (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency says it and Lockheed Martin Corp. plan to celebrate Space Day, an annual event that occurs on the first Friday in May.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration said this year's theme is "Celebrating Human Space Flight: Past, Present and Future." Space Day observances started in 1997.

This year's activities include:

-- A national celebration on Saturday at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, including a visit from the astronaut crew of the most recent space shuttle mission. The 10 a.m.-3 p.m. EDT event is free.

-- Space Day in Your Neighborhood offers groups the opportunity to let the world know about their Space Day activities by registering them on the Space Day Web site. More than 180 events have been registered worldwide, including some in Canada, Chile, India, Japan, Germany, Pakistan, Brazil and Australia.

NASA and Lockheed Martin said the celebration of Space Day is designed to inspire people to learn more about and pursue careers in science and engineering.

A Space Day toolkit of educational activities, games, space facts and other resources can be found at http://www.spaceday.org.