From: AL.com
PENSACOLA, Florida — The National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola is opening a new space-themed exhibit to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the last walk on the moon, and the museum is welcoming some big names in space exploration for the exhibit’s opening weekend.
John Glenn, Buzz Aldrin, James Lovell, Gene Krantz, Fred Haise, Eugene Cernan and more are all scheduled to attend the Dec. 15 opening of the exhibit, which will feature a full-scale replica of an Apollo Lunar Excursion Module.
The day’s events begins with a 10 a.m. panel discussion about the Apollo XIII (13) mission, with two men who were on the troubled spacecraft (Lovell and Haise) and two who were on the ground working frantically to return the astronauts safely to Earth (Krantz and Glynn Lunney).
At 11:45, there will be a luncheon featuring Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, and who later became a U.S. Senator and the oldest man in space. Tickets to the luncheon are $25, and reservations are required.
From 1:30 to 3 p.m., a panel of astronauts and NASA officials will discuss the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs, the challenges they overcame to take the lead in space exploration, and what the Space Race meant for America and American preeminence in science, technology and engineering.
Panelists scheduled include former astronauts David Scott (retired Air Force colonel, Gemini astronaut and commander of Apollo XV, first to drive on the Moon), Thomas Stafford (retired Air Force brigadier general, Gemini astronaut, commander of Apollo X and commander of the first joint U.S.-Soviet space mission), and…
Read more of Space pioneers headed to Pensacola for opening of Naval Aviation Museum’s lunar exhibit on the AL.com website.
First found on a Facebook post by a friend.
Pam Hoffman