posted 12-15-2008 09:32 PM               

Year of Apollo Gala Scheduled for February

The USSRC will host its second annual space gala entitled The Year of Apollo on February 7, 2009, in the Davidson Center for Space Exploration. In July 2009, the nation will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the lunar landing. However, we decided to schedule our event much earlier in the year in order to pay tribute to the thousands of men and women who were working in the months preceding the landing to ensure its success.

Miles O'Brien, former CNN's chief technology and environment correspondent, will emcee a brief program that will include the presentation of the first Ernst Stuhlinger Visionary Award for Space Research and Development and a speech by Apollo 16 Astronaut Charlie Duke. The evening will feature a 1960s theme and guests will be invited to dance to the music of the era following dinner.

Earlier in the day, astronaut Dick Gordon will officially cut the ribbon on the restored Apollo 12 Mobile Quarantine Facility that is now displayed in the Davidson Center. Apollo 7 astronaut Walter Cunningham and Skylab astronaut Owen Garriott will also be on hand and will participate in a book signing in the museum gift shop beginning at 2:30 p.m. We anticipate other astronauts will be with us; so, stay tuned for further information.

Invitations to the event will go out in a few days, but we are giving you first chance to purchase tickets by clicking here (scroll to the bottom for tickets). Don't wait! Last year's event sold out with 1,400 people. We are limiting this year's event to 1,000.

Sponsors include SAIC (title), Lockheed Martin (Saturn V), Dorothy and Julian Davidson/Davidson Technologies, Inc. (Apollo), and Northrop Grumman (Apollo). Corporate sponsors include: ADTRAN, Inc., ATK, Betty Huth Schonrock, Jacobs ESTS Group, Phil Dotts-Public FA, Inc., Redstone Federal Credit Union, Systems Studies and Simulations (S3), Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama, Inc., UAHuntsville, URS EG&G Division, Burger King/Wesfam Restaurants, Inc., and United Launch Systems.

posted 02-08-2009 11:09 AM               

That shiny aluminum-clad Airstream trailer on display at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center isn't just where Apollo 12 astronauts were quarantined after their trip to the moon in November 1969.

It's where astronaut Alan Bean had post-flight surgery to stitch up a gash on his forehead after he was hit by an unsecured camera during transit to Earth, an injury, he told a group at a Year of Apollo event here Saturday, that gave him "serious" pain.

posted 02-08-2009 08:06 PM               

It's where astronaut Alan Bean had post-flight surgery to stitch up a gash on his forehead after he was hit by an unsecured camera during transit to Earth, an injury, he told a group at a Year of Apollo event here Saturday, that gave him "serious" pain.

posted 02-08-2009 08:27 PM            

The splashdown, at 15g, was the hardest ocean-landing ever recorded – enough to jar a 16-mm camera from its mounting and hit Al Bean on the head.

posted 02-10-2009 06:13 PM               

The splashdown, at 15g, was the hardest ocean-landing ever recorded – enough to jar a 16-mm camera from its mounting and hit Al Bean on the head.