57th Anniversary of Apollo 11

This week marks the 57th Anniversary of Apollo 11  (July 16–24, 1969). Apollo 11 was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, and Armstrong became the first person to step onto the Moon's surface six hours and 39 minutes later, on July 21 at 02:56 UTC.

The last few years, I have celebrated this week with friends and family in the industry. Two years ago, I celebrated the anniversary, and space travel in general, by visiting the Infinity Science Center in Mississippi. This science center honors Fred Haise in particular as he is from Mississippi. Haise has his own parking spot at the center and can still be seen visiting and fundraising to honor the museum and commemorate NASA's past. To learn more: https://www.visitinfinity.com/ and Astronaut Fred Haise

We've also been to the Houston Space Center quite a few times. This location houses a lot of Apollo era artifacts. I also highly recommend the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola. While not strictly dedicated to space, it does the critical role the Navy has played in space exploration and spacecraft recovery.

I've never been to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, but my husband and several other family members have. I hope to go one day. I'd also love to go to the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C.

NASA, Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin, and SpaceX have all become synonymous with the celebration of space travel. However, few people realize how they might participate or become a part of space history. If you'd like to learn more, please check out my articles: Apollo 11 Anniversary and Blue Origin, Wally Funk, and More. For those of you asking for more information about the interviews, or watching the ones I mentioned in previous years: http://www.countdowntothemoon.org/ or check out this article on the gentleman (Nathan Price) doing the interviews: League City man conducted 1,840 interviews on NASA's moon mission

How about you? Are you interested in participating in an interview? Are you inspired by the human grasp for space? What has surprised you most about reaching for the stars? What are you most looking forward to in the future? Have you read any good SPACE travel books?

55th Anniversary of Apollo 11

This week marks the 56th Anniversary of Apollo 11. Apollo 11 was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, and Armstrong became the first person to step onto the Moon's surface six hours and 39 minutes later, on July 21 at 02:56 UTC.

The last few years, I have celebrated this week with friends and family in the industry. Last year, I celebrated the anniversary, and space travel in general, by visiting the Infinity Science Center in Mississippi. This science center honors Fred Haise in particular as he is from Mississippi. Haise has his own parking spot at the center and can still be seen visiting and fundraising to honor the museum and commemorate NASA's past.

To learn more: https://www.visitinfinity.com/ and Astronaut Fred Haise

NASA, Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin, and SpaceX have all become synonymous with the celebration of space travel. However, few people realize how they might participate or become a part of space history. If you'd like to learn more, please check out my articles: Apollo 11 Anniversary and Blue Origin, Wally Funk, and More. For those of you asking for more information about the interviews, or watching the ones I mentioned last time: http://www.countdowntothemoon.org/ or check out this article on the gentleman (Nathan Price) doing the interviews: League City man conducted 1,840 interviews on NASA's moon mission

How about you? Are you interested in participating in an interview? Are you inspired by the human grasp for space? What has surprised you most about reaching for the stars? What are you most looking forward to in the future? Have you read any good SPACE travel books?

UPDATED: Blue Origin, Wally Funk, and More Interviews

In my last post, I wrote about the Apollo anniversary, Virgin Space, and the Moon Interviews my friend is conducting.

Since then, Jeff Bezos joined the space race accomplishments when his Blue Origin launched soon after the previous post. This Amazon shuttle launch could have easily been overshadowed by the previous forays to space from Tesla and Virgin. However, it had one claim on my excitement that the previous launches had not. Wally Funk was aboard. 

For those who don't understand the significance of Blue Origin sending Wally Funk to space: she was one of the original Mercury 13 (April 1959), a group of women in an experimental, privately-funded program who underwent the same physiological training as male NASA astronauts, to see if they could handle it (spoiler, they could). These women were not NASA astronauts, and none of them ever flew.

Funk scored higher than John Glenn on many of the tests. Glenn even said women shouldn't go to space and once said "The fact that women are not in this field is a fact of our social order." But now, Funk fulfilled her lifelong dream. She flew to space, and she stole the record of becoming the oldest person in space right out from under John Glenn's feet.

I love that her dream finally came true. This is further proof that we are never too old to dream, or to accomplish our goals.

For those of you asking for more information about joining in on the interviews, or watching the ones I mentioned last time: http://www.countdowntothemoon.org/

Please take some time to watch at least a few. There are interviews here with those who are excited about the modern day the space race, some who are ambivalent, and some who still do not believe any of it is real - very interesting variety of views available in 10 - 90 minute increments. You can also see my husband and I talking with him on the 52nd anniversary of the first man on the moon at: https://www.countdowntothemoon.org/2021/07/21/1258-bill-and-sylvia/

All of this was very exciting to me and put me in the mood to read some Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, and Andy Weir. 

How about you? Are you interested in participating in an interview? What has surprised you most about reaching for the stars? What are you most looking forward to in the future?

Apollo 11 Anniversary, Virgin Space, and an Interview a Day

Two years ago I shared an article on this blog: Apollo 11 Anniversary and the Lunar Library  I wrote about the 50th anniversary, Elon Musk and his space Tesla, and the new lunar archives. I also mentioned the (then) recently discovered black hole, and other space related events.

It's only been a couple of years since then, separated by a global pandemic, and yet our planet has only continued to reach for the stars.

In case you missed it, on Sunday, Richard Branson and the crew of Virgin Galactic successfully completed their first space flight. Branson hopes to make commercial flights s common possibility. His work and investments to that end have excited thousands. If you missed it, check out:

Curious what veteran space explorers thought? Check out:

Since December of 2019, a friend of mine (Nathan Price) has been on a personal mission to interview a person a day about our obsession with the moon. He plans to continue through the end of 2024. His goal: to discuss the moon and keep video thoughts on what humans were thinking about the reach for space leading up to our return to the moon. His subjects include people who feel the whole thing is a hoax - Neil Armstrong never went to the moon, professional scientists, teachers, stay-at-home moms, and everyone in between. If you'd like to know more, view his interviews, or even participate in one yourself: Countdown to the Moon Interviews and His Daily Query

Interested in fiction inspired by the moon? Check out Andy Weir's Artemis.

How about you? Are you inspired by the human grasp for space? What has surprised you most about reaching for the stars? What are you most looking forward to in the future?