Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, the first mission to land men on the moon. Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins launched from the Kennedy Space Center on July 16, 1969 at 9:32 am, and landed on the moon July 20, 1969 at 4:17 pm. A little more than six hours later, at 10:39 pm, Neil Armstrong opened the hatch of the lunar lander, taking his first step onto the moon at 10:56 pm. These events became the culmination of my novel, Undaunted, and since researching for that book I have remained fascinated with everything surrounding this mission.
Last week the National Geographic Channel had Space Week, airing multiple shows about the mission and the others leading up to this moment, including some never seen before footage. Silly me thought these shows would run during the week of the anniversary, but I did manage to record a few episodes, and I’m sure there will be a DVD to add to my growing collection of space research.
Here on the Space Coast, this weekend was filled with celebratory events, a few of which I had the pleasure of attending. Friday, there was a “Noon to the moon” street party.
One of the boutique owners commissioned an artist to create a print to honor this anniversary, which was also made into shirts and fleece blankets.
Pam had gifted me one of the shirts, and when we stopped in during the street party I picked up another shirt with a different design commemorating the launch.
Saturday, I woke up early and drove to Cocoa Beach for an astronaut parade.
Early arrivals for the parade.
There was 1 Apollo astronaut, Al Worden, 11 Space Shuttle astronauts and 10 of the children of Apollo astronauts in attendance. Of course, most of them rode in Corvettes but there were some Mustangs as well.
I loved the excitement in the air and seeing a large number of children. Listening to conversations around me, a number of the folks had been around for the original Apollo 11 parade in 1969.
Sunday was the crowning jewel in the weekend for me. Pam had heard about the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation events, which included a brunch and panel interview with children of the Apollo astronauts. Tickets were available to the public and Pam scored us a pair right away.
The children that participated in the panel were: Jan Aldrin, Rick Armstrong, Amy Bean, Tracy Cernan Woolie, Peter Conrad, Barbara Lovell Harrison, Jeff Lovell, Susan Lovell, Alan Roosa, Rosemary Roosa, Rusty Schweickart, Glen Anders, and Julie Shepard Jenkins. I plan to write a blog solely about this panel in the coming days. I want to listen to the recording again to choose the items that resonated with me the most.
After this panel was complete, we were cleared out of the room to allow the hotel to reset for the second group, Women of Space. I was particularly looking forward to this one since it will tie into my current work-in-progress. The female astronauts in attendance were Anna Fischer, one of the first women astronauts, class of 1978, Ellen Ochoa, and Eileen Collins. The hour allotted for this seminar flew by and before I knew it we were outside again waiting for the room to be reset for the final presentation of the day, the Future of Space.
Since my new book will be going into the future of space, I was eager to hear what this panel would have to say. While it was a good panel with presentations from Bob Cabana, director of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center; Chris Ferguson, with Boeing’s Starliner program; Kelly Defazio, with Lockheed Martin’s Orion program; and Andy Allen, General Manager of Jacobs Space Operations Group,I already knew much of what they shared. Again, I will detail more about this and the Women of Space seminars in future blogs.
More than 400,000 workers were involved in getting Apollo to the moon. Contractors all over the country created parts, workers at Kennedy Space Center put them together and managed the launch, then Mission Control in Houston took over to monitor progress, and around the world, satellite listening stations provided contact with the capsule as the earth rotated.
A large portion of that workforce was laid off after the Apollo program. Some were brought back for the Space Shuttle and then layoffs began again when that program ended.
My dad is the one in the blue striped shirt. Photo credit NASA website
I’ve had times when I’ve despaired that America has lost interest in space exploration, but looking around the room during these panels, I was encouraged. The room was filled for each seminar with eager faces, even some from other countries who had traveled here for these events.
To help celebrate this momentous accomplishment in our nation’s history, I am giving away a matted copy of the print mentioned above and a signed edition of Undaunted, the fictional story of one boys fascination with the space race and how it changed his life.
The Rafflecopter is super easy to enter. Good Luck!
Shares appreciated.
Enter to win the this amazing Print and my novel, Undaunted, about Jessie, a young boy growing up in the shadow of rockets
I’m sorry but this giveaway is available in the US only but a digital copy of Undaunted and Destiny’s Call can be substituted for our overseas friends.
