Resembling a high-budget science fair, Penn State University researchers, scientists and students turned the HUB Heritage Hall into a world of exploration on Saturday during Space Day 2001.

Sponsored by the Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium (PSGC), the event was a supplement to National Space Day, which will take place May 3.

As a family-oriented event, Space Day 2001 educated and entertained children and adults curious about the world all around them.

With about 22 exhibits, attendance was at about a thousand, double from last year, said PSGC associate director Lisa Brown.

Penn State receives the most NASA funding of all universities and colleges in Pennsylvania, a $482,000 grant, Brown said.

"We are a significant contributor," she said about Penn State's role in NASA research.

PSGC Web designer Angela Phelps described Space Day 2001 as having two goals; to bring together the air and space researchers of Penn State, and to help inform and inspire the community about air and space research.

To help translate complex science concepts, researchers teamed up with science education students at Penn State who developed hands on activities.

The students had exhibits about subjects such as Spectroscopy -- the study of the composition of stars from their light -- and the Doppler Effect -- the changing of objects' wavelengths as they move.

The Flyin' Lions were also present as they showed videos of their weightless flight aboard NASA's KC-135 airplane, "the vomit comet," and explained what happens to a person when there is no gravity.

In addition, they had a "force plate" connected to a laptop computer that measured children's weight and balance as they exercised.

Students involved in a sailplane project brought a fiberglass mockup of a cockpit they were in the process of building, which children climbed into.

"We were prepared for the fact that there are more younger kids this year, and we have things they can get more involved in," said Nick Baxter (sophomore-aerospace engineering).

The tickets went fast for the two inflated planetariums standing 10 1/2 feet high and 16 1/2 feet wide.

Once inside the gray dome, the night sky was projected on the ceiling.

Astronaut Jim Pawelczyk, assistant professor of physiology and kinesiology, spoke in the HUB Auditorium about what it takes to be an astronaut as well as described how the space shuttle gets into space.

He then answered questions about conditions in the space shuttle and how astronauts adapt.

Ever since he got back from space Pawelczyk has been speaking publicly about something that he said everyone gets excited about.

"Aspiring kids to do more with their life is all the reward I need," he said.

Pawelczyk flew aboard Space Shuttle mission STS-90 three years ago in a 16-day mission studying how the brain adapts to micro-gravity.

When NASA realized they would need outside help with the mission proposed by Pawelczyk, he was invited to fly aboard the space shuttle mission for which he needed to take a two-year leave from the university to train.

"Astronauts are all experts in their fields. Flying in space is just a way to give back," Pawelczyk said.

"Find something in your life, do it the best you can and then find a way to give it back to the community," he added.