Those who have ever wanted to enter a black hole or walk on Mars will get their big break tomorrow -- no prior experience or space shuttle required.

Penn State's 7th annual Space Day, sponsored by NASA's Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium, will feature interactive exhibits, planetarium tours and guest speakers.

Chris Palma, outreach fellow for the Eberly College of Science, said this year's event will feature old favorites and some new additions, such as the astrowall. "At first it looks like a plain old screen and computer projector," he said. "But if you wear the special glasses, you will see a 3-D tour of the planet Mars."

Britton Smith (graduate-astronomy and astrophysics) will be working with 3-D visualization equipment to deliver three different shows to the public.

"One is like an interactive planetarium, where we can move around and change perspective," he said. "Another creates a simulation of two galaxies colliding, and the third displays images captured by the Mars Rover."

Smith said he expects the astrowall shows and children's activities to be the most popular exhibits.

Coordinator Angela Phelps said three local school districts -- Shaw Middle School in Philadelphia, Harrison-Morton Middle School in Allentown and the Greencastle-Antrim School District in Greencastle-- will send younger students to explore these "quick, science museum-like activities." The exhibits will be open in HUB Alumni Hall throughout the day.

Palma said the astronomy department aims to focus on the activities for younger children by blending creative crafts with real astronomy education, with the chance to make their own constellations and bubble rockets.

Visitors can also see three special presentations in the HUB Auditorium. The first will discuss satellite technology, such as Google Earth. In a second presentation later in the day, resident astronaut Jim Pawelczyk will speak about how human biology affects exploration on the moon and Mars. Pawelczyk is the first Penn State faculty member to fly in space. The final presentation will present possibilities for the future of space exploration.

The event is a unique opportunity to be exposed to everything involving space in one location, Palma said.

Visitors will also have the chance to further explore their space curiosities by touring the Davey planetarium across from the HUB. The Penn State planetarium is mainly used for field trips and students studying astronomy, Palma said. Space Day will be run by more than 150 volunteers, mainly students, faculty and outreach personnel. There will be more than 30 groups participating and more than 50 exhibits.

More than 2,000 people attended last year's Space Day festivities, and Phelps said she expects an even bigger turnout with overflow from Blue and White weekend crowds. "We want to highlight the exciting, fun, cutting-edge science and engineering going on at Penn State and engage the public," Phelps said.