Ft. MacArthur open house will provide a glimpse of aerospace technology.

People will be able to travel forward and backward in time on Saturday at Ft. MacArthur in San Pedro.

Rockets, satellite models and other outer-space technology from the U.S. Air Force Space Systems Division will dominate the parade ground not far from the handsome Spanish-style buildings built more than 70 years ago when the venerable fort opened to guard the new Los Angeles Harbor.

In the past, the Air Force facility in El Segundo has had its own open houses. And last year, Ft. MacArthur admitted the community for a look. But on Saturday, the two will join forces for the first Space Systems Division and Ft. MacArthur Day.

Air Force Capt. Yvonne Cameron, who is in charge of the free event, said people will be able to look to the future as they visit booths exhibiting equipment related to space travel, communications, weather and navigation. At the same time, people can see history by taking mini-bus tours of the fort, which is divided into the Lower Reservation along Pacific Avenue and the Upper Reservation near Angels Gate Park. Along the way, they can also enjoy a small USO show and children’s games.

The open house is designed to give people a glimpse of the technology and equipment produced by aerospace companies and defense contractors, Cameron said. She said that people who drive through the South Bay see the buildings of TRW and other companies, “but a lot don’t know what really goes on and what their tax dollars pay for.”

Displays on the Lower Reservation’s parade grounds will range from rocket, satellite and space shuttle models to a 30-foot-long mock-up of an upper-stage rocket that pushed the Magellan and Galileo spacecraft on their interplanetary journeys. A model of a booster rocket will be fired several times during the day.

If the aerospace exhibits point toward the 21st Century, Ft. MacArthur itself continues to mirror its history, according to Donald Young, director of the fort’s Military Museum. “Construction started in 1917 and most buildings are still standing from that particular period, the officers’ quarters and the administration building,” he said. The parade grounds are also original, he said, but instead of

providing room for technological displays, it used to echo with military bands and marching troops.

The museum on the Upper Reservation may be visited Saturday on buses that will leave hourly from near the parade grounds. It is housed in a massive concrete structure that was once a gun battery for coastal defense. Young said the guns--declared obsolete in 1944--were fired many times in practice, “but shots were never fired in anger.”

Museum exhibits explain how the guns functioned,

and other displays include vintage weaponry and photos and newspapers covering Los Angeles Harbor defenses and events of World War II.

The Upper Reservation contains a complex of barracks reflecting the fort’s days as an induction and training center. During World War II, 750,000 troops went through the fort. Today, the Lower Reservation houses more than 400 military families.

Cameron said that attendance Saturday should top 4,000 people. Free parking will be provided at 22nd and Miner streets near the 22nd Street Landing. There will be a free shuttle to the Lower Reservation. Refreshments will be on sale.

Not everything on Saturday will be about military history or space. There will be karate and dance demonstrations, a magic show, and children will be able to enjoy a variety of games and have their faces painted. “One organization will paint them as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” Cameron said.

Entertainment will combine youth drill teams with military talent that includes a country-and-Western singer and a children’s variety show. A familiar slice of military life--a traveling USO troupe--will take to the stage at 10:30 a.m. with a variety show. USO volunteer entertainers perform annually for more than 60,000 military personnel and their dependents in the Western United States.

Tim Bogle, director of the USO Hollywood Mobile Show, said 12 singers, dancers and comedians will perform at the fort. “It’s a small show to let people know what we do, let them know the USO is still around, still performing, still supporting the military,” he said.