Greenbelt: Nasa And FDR

The town of Greenbelt in Prince George’s County has two spots of interest: the historic Greenbelt community built by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration, and Goddard Visitor Center, located at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. The visitor center offers interactive exhibits on Goddard-built spacecraft and satellite communications, including a large-scale model of

the lunar reconnaissance orbiter and a Gemini space capsule, and an outdoor rocket garden. Don’t miss the theater with “Science on a Sphere,” a brightly lit 3-D spherical surface, 6 feet (2 meters) in diameter, which plays colorful short films on a range of planetary and earth science topics.

Nearby is the historic planned community of Greenbelt, built in the 1930s by FDR’s Resettlement Administration. The model town was f illed with playgrounds and cultural centers. Inner walkways away from cars allowed children to safely walk to school, and the retail district today includes the New Deal Cafe. Outside the community center, white stone friezes depict values set forth in the preamble to the Constitu- tion, while inside you’ll find vintage photos and a small exhibit on the town’s history.

National Museum of Health and Medicine

This museum in Silver Spring, part of the Department of Defense, is the successor to a previous institution called the Army Medical Museum. Glass cases display the bullet that killed President Lincoln, along with skulls, prosthetic limbs, a giant hairball removed from a stomach, and preserved body parts that were noteworthy due to

THE ASSOCIATED PRSS — BETH J. HARPAZ A children’s educational area is seen at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, Md. The free park also offers formal gardens, wooden paths, indoor conservatory and a pond landscaped with a Japanese sensibility.

THE ASSOCIATED PRSS — BETH J. HARPAZ Glen Echo Park in Glen Echo, Md., is a historic site that started in the late 19th century as a Chautauqua community, part of a movement to create planned towns with a focus on culture and education.