Aerospace Community Day sets new date for return: April 2, 2022

Hosted by UND Aerospace, April 2 will mark the fourth Aerospace Community Day – a one-day open house for all things air, space and science

One of the region’s biggest “pop-up” museums is once again opening its doors at UND’s John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences.

The school’s fourth Aerospace Community Day, previously scheduled for early February, will now take place on Saturday, April 2.

With doors open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., the free event for all ages will span Odegard, Clifford, Ryan and Robin Halls on the west side of campus, as well as UND Aerospace Flight Operations at Grand Forks International Airport.

This year’s Aerospace Community Day — a one-day, all-out open house for UND Aerospace’s academic departments, flight facilities and industry partners — marks a return for the event, which last occurred in 2020.

Elizabeth Bjerke, associate dean of UND Aerospace, said she’s looking forward to having multiple aircraft on display, simulators available to fly, numerous weather experiments to try and space-themed movies played in the atmospherium’s domed theater, among many other attractions.Since it began in 2018, the annual event has drawn thousands of people to tour and experience UND Aerospace as an air, space and science museum.

“We are looking forward to bringing this fun event back to campus in April,” Bjerke said. “This year, we are adding some new features such as an aerospace-themed Lego attraction, as well as new exhibits from many of our industry partners.

“I love to think of this day as a pop-up science museum that we are able to bring to the community, hopefully to the excitement of people of all ages!”

According to Bjerke, with the spike of COVID-19’s Omicron variant predicted to peak in North Dakota in the coming weeks, the date for Aerospace Community Day was changed to safely allow for hands-on activities while also making it possible for industry sponsors to remain part of the festivities.

More information, as well as highlights from past years of Aerospace Community Day, can be found on the UND Aerospace website.