By Becca Burkhead

No one said using a ratchet was part of Martin Jensen's job for NASA when he graduated from Utah State University in public relations.

Yet for nearly three years Jensen and a team from NASA have used this unlikely public relations tool to bring a piece of space exploration to cities nationwide. Why? One of NASA's newest exhibits: Starship 2040.

"It all fits together like one big puzzle," the exhibit's truck driver, Bobby Cowley, said. And that's exactly how Starship 2040 has made it across more than a million miles in the United States since its debut in February 2001. The Starship 2040 team works together, each with an integral part to keep the whole thing running smoothly.

According to Jensen, it usually takes two hours of know-how to set up the exhibit which all fits inside the belly of a semi trailer. In October in Logan, a team of nine pulled Starship 2040 apart in less than 45 minutes.

Putting this space puzzle together at every new location is only the framework allowing Starship 2040 to achieve its purpose. One of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's goals is education, and exhibits like Starship 2040 help promote this goal. NASA said, "Starship 2040 and other educational exhibits motivate children not only to dream of a future in space, but to pursue careers in math, science, and engineering -- the building blocks of America's space program."

Starship 2040 is really NASA's vision of what a space liner might be like 40 years from now. Technology in the last four decades has introduced jets and made personal computers possible. Jensen said if technology continues the way it has, the dream of commonplace travel to the moon may become a reality.

Inside Starship 2040 facilities for life in space can be seen including a climbing wall for exercise. Two and a half hours of daily exercise is recommended for passengers. The wall is complete with a vacuum for sweat so that moisture does not get into the computer systems on board due to the lack of gravity.

Each day while the exhibit was in Utah visitors to Starship 2040 could also see a presentation by Kirk Sorensen, an aerospace engineer for NASA. Sorensen's presentation allows visitors to learn about getting into space, the space environment, and the technologies that exist because of research conducted for the space program.

It is the young children at these presentations that amaze Sorensen the most. During one presentation, Sorensen asked a smart 6-year-old boy if he could work for the boy someday.

"These kids are so smart!" Sorensen said. The first- and second-grade children tend to be the most excited to learn about space.

Sorensen was 6 when he watched the shuttle lift off for the first time. He said at that moment he knew he wanted to work for NASA. He stuck with it. After graduating from USU he now works on new propellant systems to advance travel capabilities in space.

There are many benefits from the space program that benefit life on earth according to Sorensen. Some of these include cell phones, compact discs, transparent braces, and cordless, lightweight electronics.

Many of these tools were developed because it is so costly to send things into space. Now the technology developed out of necessity in space is benefitting millions.

NASA is working on new propulsion technology that will be more efficient. One of the most costly parts of travel is the initial takeoff. In the future aircrafts may be able to take off like an airplane does, but have the ability to fly at high elevations. This would be much more efficient than using rockets to launch things into orbit. Sorensen said millions of gallons of rocket fuel are used up in just two minutes in order to send the shuttle into space.

Space is close to us. According to Sorensen it is just 100 miles up. Right now the shuttle can get there in just 6 or 7 minutes. The real dilemma is cost.

Going into space is expensive. Jensen said it currently costs $10,000 a pound to send something into space -- NASA is working on fuel-efficient engines and propellant methods that could cut this price tag down to $1,000 a pound in the future.

The Starship 2040 exhibit is uniquely a traveling exhibit -- one of nine exhibits managed by the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Other exhibits include the shuttle, space laboratory, space life support systems, and transportation systems.

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