The featured exhibition for families at the Clark County Fair is more than just a fun experience in an inflatable obstacle course, Mars Encounters is also educational.

Paul Valencia
Clark County Today

The future is for our children.

Today, our children can show us the future at the Clark County Fair.

Mars Encounters, the main family attraction at the Clark County fair, opened Friday morning and within minutes there were large lines for the huge inflatable rocket ship/obstacle course, as well as the opportunity to mine some rocks with small excavators.

Not any rocks. Special rocks that are needed for colonization on Mars.

So goes the story of this role-playing adventure.

From the creator of past fair exhibitions Dino Encounters and Ice Age Encounters, this year the Clark County Fair is proud to present Mars Encounters.

Fun for the whole family, with the bounce house reserved for children 12 and under.

It also is intended to be educational.

“The backstory: This is a mining colony,” said Keri DeWitt, owner of 3E Encounters and the creator of Mars Encounters. “In order to have a sustainable colony on Mars, we’re going to have to find a resource that we can extract oxygen and hydrogen from. Those are the two things we’ve got to have in the universe to make that work.”

In DeWitt’s fictional world of Mars Encounters, Mars has that resource in its rocks. She calls the Mars ore “aurelionite,” and it is up to the youngsters to power their excavators to pick up “aurelionite.”

While we took a tour of the red planet, we saw Jude Milauskas of Kalama mining for resources. Jude’s parents, Chelsea and Peter, are regulars at the fair.

“I grew up in Vancouver. I bring my family every year,” Chelsea said.

“This is very impressive,” Peter added. “This is really cool.”

“This is one of the best,” Chelsea added. “And it’s all free.”

Well, free with a paid admission to the fair. But her point is taken. There is no extra cost to experience Mars Encounters.

The story continues …

After the mining process, other youngsters haul that “aurelionite” in their four-wheelers. The rock is then sent to the processing area, “where we analyze it to see what the ratio of oxygen and hydrogen is in each sample,” DeWitt explained. “We heat it up to extract it. Then we recombine it to make breathable air, drinkable water, and fuel for our rockets.”

Maybe that process is fictional now. But in the future?

The rocket, part of the large inflatable obstacle, is a highlight in the exhibition hall.

New this year to DeWitt’s exhibitions are the digital layers.

“If you scan the QR code and join the mission, you can check into each station,” DeWitt said. “Makes it more of a role-playing type of experience. Each year, I’m trying to sculpt this into a more immersive, role-playing, educational story.”

There is also a new character at each station, named Alik — Artificial Learning Intelligence Kiosk.

DeWitt already has big plans for next year, a brand new story. But we will not ruin the surprise.

This year, it’s all about Mars. The Mars Encounter exhibit is open every day of the fair at 10 a.m.

There are also three daily live shows at 2:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m., and 6:30 p.m.

Keeping true to the backstory, the live shows are orientation meetings for new colonizers. They will be warned not to take off their spacesuits on the surface of the red planet. Plus there will be a history of Mars and why it is important to explore the planet.