posted 08-07-2013 10:54 AM               

Second Annual Fly Around Dine Around Fundraiser Features Apollo Astronauts, Honored Guests

The Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center's annual end-of-summer fundraising event is celebrating its second year with a truly spectacular lineup of special guests. Aug. 24, 2013, the Kansas Cosmosphere will welcome Apollo astronauts:

• Buzz Aldrin (Apollo XI, Gemini XII)
  
• Walt Cunningham (Apollo VII)
  
• Joe Engle (Backup LM Pilot for Apollo XIV, STS-51I)
  
• Richard Gordon (Apollo XII, Gemini XI)
  
• Fred Haise (Apollo XIII)

Shuttle astronauts:

• Jeff Ashby (STS-93, STS-100, STS-112)
  
• Steven Hawley (STS-41D, STS-61C, STS-31, STS-82 and STS-93)
  
• Bruce McCandless II (STS-41B, STS-31, CAPCOM for Apollo XI, Astronaut support crew for Apollo XIV)

And Honored Guests:

• Laura Shepard Churchley (Daughter of Alan Shepard: Apollo XIV, MR-3)
  
• Paul Mardikian, lead conservator for the Apollo F-1 Conservation Project and co-founder and senior conservator of Terra Mare Conservation, LLC

The group of guests will be participating in various activities throughout the day, including book and model signings, a progressive dinner and the reception that gives the entire event its name, the Fly Around Dine Around.

Second Annual Fly Around Dine Around Reception

In a truly-out-of-this-world celebration, the Second Annual Fly Around Dine Around honors the heroes of space exploration with an unforgettable reception.

From 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Cosmosphere's Grand Lobby and Rotunda, patrons will enjoy a unique tasting of the many delicious offerings available in Hutchinson and surrounding areas. The reception is made possible through a partnership with area eateries and caterers. Sample food selections will be provided by Anchor Inn, Carlos O'Kelly's, Carriage Crossing, Dillons Chinese Kitchen, Dillons Marketplace, Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott, Girst's: Catering For You, Hog Wild, Hutchinson Town Club, Jillian's Italian Grill, Pizza Ranch, The Raz Smokehouse, Serendipity Cupcakes, Spangles, Starbucks, and Sunflower Supper Club and Catering. Beverages will be provided by City Beverage and Egbert Liquor.

Exciting door prizes will be awarded from 6 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. A silent auction will be held during the reception, offering myriad collectibles including signed models, photos, prints and more. Two highlighted items included in the auction will be a Navy yearbook from the USS Oriskany, signed by Alan Shepard, and an Omega Speedmaster "Moonwatch" Professional 42 MM.

Additionally, a limited number of personalized, signed copies of The All-American Boys, Apollo Moon Missions and The X-15 Rocket Plane with a meet and greet opportunity will be part of the silent auction. A full list of items for auction will be available on cosmo.org 10 days before the event.

At approximately 7:30 p.m., the red carpet will roll out for the arrival of the astronauts and honored guests, who will make their way through the crowd to the Shuttle stage in the Cosmosphere's lobby. Apollo astronauts will share memories of their missions and guests will hear firsthand stories and accounts of experiences from the early days of the Space Race. Astronauts will mingle, but will not pose for photos or sign items.

Tickets for the Fly Around Dine Around Reception are $40 for Cosmosphere Members, $50 for General Public. Tickets can be reserved by calling (800) 397-0330. A credit card is required to guarantee reservation.

Book And Model Signings

Earlier in the day, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. in the Hall of Space Galleries, several astronauts will be participating in book and model signings, giving visitors a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to capture a piece of history. Buzz Aldrin, one of the first men to walk on the Moon, will be signing copies of his new book, Mission to Mars, in the Kennedy Theater, located in the Cold War Gallery. In the Investigate Space: The Astronaut Experience Gallery, Shuttle astronauts Jeff Ashby and Steven Hawley will be meeting and greeting with visitors while signing personalized photos and Shuttle models.

The following books are now available in the Cargo Bay Gift Store: Mission to Mars by Buzz Aldrin, The All-American Boys by Walt Cunningham, Apollo Moon Missions by Billy Watkins with foreword by Fred Haise, and The X-15 Rocket Plane by Michelle L. Evans with foreword by Joe Engle. A limited number of signed copies of The All-American Boys, Apollo Moon Missions and The X-15 Rocket Plane are available for pre-order, and will be available for pickup after 1 p.m. August 24, 2013. Visit cosmospherestore.com or call (620) 665-9350 or (800) 397-0330 x350 to purchase copies of these books, or to reserve a signed copy.

Things To Know About The Book And Model Signings

Hall of Space admission ($12 donation) and purchase of designated items for signings are required for all entries — including Cosmosphere Members and Reno County residents, as the day is dedicated to fundraising activities. A $20 donation is required for items to be signed by Jeff Ashby or Steve Hawley. Proof of purchase from the Cargo Bay Gift Store for items to be presented for signing is required and must be presented for admission. Families or groups who wish to attend the signings will need to purchase separate admission for each person, but need only purchase one item for signing per family/group.

Buzz Aldrin will not be signing anything other than copies of Mission to Mars purchased through the Cargo Bay Gift Store, and will not personalize signatures. Jeff Ashby and Steven Hawley will not be signing anything other than designated models and photos purchased through the Cargo Bay Gift Store.

All books, photos and models attendees wish to present for signing must be purchased through the Cosmosphere's Cargo Bay Gift Store. Advanced purchases are strongly recommended, and may be made any time by visiting cosmospherestore.com or calling (620) 665-9350 or (800) 397-0330 x350. Visitors may take photos of the astronauts while their item is being signed. These guidelines will be strictly enforced.

Progressive Dinner

From 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., patrons will join all of the honored guests for an elegant, five-course dinner in the Apollo and Mollett Galleries. A limited number of seats are still available for $200 per person and include admission to the Fly Around Dine Around Reception.

Progressive Dinner patrons also have the option of purchasing a photo with the entire group of honored guests for $100.

Tickets to the Progressive Dinner can be reserved by calling (620)665.9310. A credit card is required to guarantee reservation.

The Cosmosphere reserves the right to assign seating.

The recommended dress code for all events on August 24, 2013, is Business Casual.

The Hall of Space Museum will close to the public at 12 p.m. August 24, 2013, in preparation for the Book and Model Signings. The Cosmosphere will close to the public at 4 p.m. August 24, 2013, in preparation for the Progressive Dinner and Fly Around Dine Around Reception. The Cosmosphere will open at 9 a.m. Sunday, August 25, 2013 to accommodate out-of-town travelers who stay overnight.

All proceeds from the events on August 24, 2013, will go toward Cosmosphere fundraising initiatives.

posted 08-19-2013 08:48 PM               

We will be attending the VIP dinner and dining with, Fred Haise, Joe Engle and his wife, Jeff Ashby, Bruce McCandless and Laura Shepard Churchley and her husband.

With that said, does anyone have any advice? I don't want to come across as "star" struck. I've never attended an event of this kind and I don't know what to expect. I don't know if I'll have much time to ask each of them anything since they will be moving around from table to table over the course of the meal. Any advice or suggestions would be very much appreciated.

posted 08-20-2013 06:51 AM               

For instance before the Apollo 16 40th celebration at the cape, I had just read Digital Apollo which has some great Dave Scott stories. So I wrote down about half a dozen questions and just happened to get a spot at Dave's table for breakfast the next morning. He loved answering the questions and it was the highlight of the event for me.

posted 08-20-2013 01:23 PM               

I would listen more than ask questions. All the astronauts have some great stories and they're getting up there in age.

And most importantly, thank them for their time and for coming to the event.

posted 08-20-2013 04:19 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by RockyMnWay:
With that said, does anyone have any advice?

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posted 08-27-2013 12:51 PM               

The book signing on Saturday went fast but got to shake hands with Buzz Aldrin. The first of many that evening. Next went on to have photos signed with shuttle astronauts Steven Hawley and Jeff Ashby. My wife was taking pictures the whole time for me and Jeff Ashby asked her what she was doing. She told him she was taking pictures for her husband. He said, "Well I want my picture taken with you!" He got up and handed the camera to someone and said I want my picture with her. Very cool and a very nice guy. He remembered our names the rest of the evening and was to first to sit with us for dinner.

For dinner, there were two groups. "Flight A" who would be dining with astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Walt Cunningham, Richard Gordon, and Steven Hawley.

"Flight B" would be dining with Joe Engle, Fred Haise, Jeff Ashby, Bruce McCandless II And Honored Guest: Laura Shepard Churchley

We were in Flight B group so they had a receiving line before dinner to meet the other group's guests. So we went through a receiving line and met and shook hands with Buzz Aldrin, Walt Cunningham, Richard Gordon, and Steven Hawley. Buzz Aldrin introduced himself, and my wife said, "I know who YOU are!" He got a chuckle out of that. Richard Gordon commented on my dress jacket pocket square, and I told him my wife picked it out. He looked at her and said, "Nice taste".

We proceeded into the dining area near the Liberty Bell and had assigned seating. The astronauts would rotate through out the evening spending about 20 minutes or so at each table.

First was Jeff Ashby. He came to our table and said hello to my wife and I by name. We were sitting across from where the guests were sitting and it was kind of loud and hard to hear them all speak.

Next was Joe Engle. All the guests before they sat down came around the table and introduced themselves and their wives/husbands etc. Joe was very nice and I kind of waited for the conversations to begin. I found myself after several minutes of silence, knowing they would only be at our table for about 20 minutes, starting the conversation by asking a question or two. I found myself asking a lot of questions and the astronauts seemed to appreciate getting things started. At our table, a lady next to my wife said that she was glad I was asking questions, because she wouldn't have known what to ask. My wife replied that I sounded like a talk show host. Some of the questions I already knew the answers to but, thought they would like to talk about it. For instance, I asked Fred Haise to talk a bit about his new project at the Infinity Science Center in Mississippi. I asked him if he was a collector at all, and he said no, but that he went on to say for years he would sign anything and everything for free. He has always been happy to do so. But with the funding needed for the new Center, he has now been charging a $50 signing fee on his website all proceeds going to the Center.

Next was Bruce McCandless and SR-71 pilot Buz Carpenter. Both were extremely nice, but Bruce is really hard to hear when he talks. He speaks very softly. He spoke about being CAPCOM for Apollo 11 and his envolvement and eventual first space test of the MMU.

Then Fred Haise sat with us. Extremely engaging and very personable. As they all were, but I really enjoyed speaking with Haise.

Finally, Alan Shepard's daughter Laura Shepard Churchley and her husband dined with us. She was very nice and animated. Found out she and quite a few of the other astronauts all live here in the mountains not far from Denver. She told quite a few stories, but I wanted to know, as some of you probably already knew, what iron did Alan use on the moon when he hit the golf ball. She said you would be surprised how many people don't know. It was a 6-iron with 3 golf balls.

After dinner, we went to the mock up of the Lunar Module where they were taking pictures of the astronauts. We preordered the picture and my wife stood on one side of the seated astronauts, and I on the other. Very cool.

Afterwards was the red carpet event where all the astronauts walked in and the people who didn't pay for the dinner were waiting and got to snap pictures as they came in.

Buzz Aldrin, Joe Engle, Richard Gordon, Walt Cunningham and Fred Haise all talked a bit to the crowd about there experiences with space flight and NASA. Buzz said that not many people knew about the Apollo 8 crew, almost getting the Apollo 11 flight. I'm not sure if he was joking or not, because he talked about looking at a script and found out it came from Borman's book. Also said that the LEMs were all named off the assembly line as LEM 1, LEM 2, LEM 3 and so on. Well LEM 5 was the heaviest and Apollo 11 ended up with LEM 5. It was very difficult to hear, so I couldn't really make out what the significance was.

We spotted Bruce McCandless talking with a small group of people and went over to listen in. Still, standing one foot away, I couldn't hear him. Afterwards, he posed for pictures and my wife snapped one with Bruce and I. He is one of my favorites and was thrilled. The picture came out a bit fuzzy, but I didn't care. What a nice man! Then we ran into Buz Carpenter, the SR-71 pilot.

We asked if he would mind taking a picture with me in front of the SR-71 hanging in the front lobby. He grabbed our hands and said, "I know the best spot!" We went to the nose of the Blackbird and he had my wife take two pictures of he and I. He then told us as much as he could about the SR-71 and his experiences. The one hanging there was the one he actually flew. What a fascinating man and very interesting to listen too. Then it was time to go. We spotted Fred Haise, Bruce Mccandless and Joe Engle in the lobby of our hotel. Very cool. What an experience! Not bad for my first meeting of an astronaut.

By the way, Hart, I asked Engle about your question about the significance of the 19 stars on the STS-51I patch. He smiled and said absolutely, it was because they were indeed scheduled for the 19th shuttle flight, and the patches were already made up before they got pushed to the 51I mission because of the satellite deployments and malfunction of the Syncom IV-3 satellite.

posted 08-29-2013 10:40 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by RockyMnWay:
By the way, Hart, I asked Engle about your question about the significance of the 19 stars on the STS-51I patch.

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posted 09-03-2013 05:20 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by RockyMnWay:
Thank you for all your replies. Your advice is very helpful and appreciated. I will see about asking Engle your question and let you know what I find out. Thanks again. Hope to see some of you there. I will be wearing a black suit...

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We were also in the "B" flight and ate with Haise, Shepard-Churchley, Engle, Ashby, and McCandless... I think in that order. All were in fine form. Also got a chance to chat a little with Gordon and Cunningham.

Walt Cunningham in particular has been very witty and charming the last couple of times I have seen him. Gordon was also a crack-up. Buzz was also in a good mood, especially after signing over 500 books just that afternoon. So a very nice night for us.

The people upstairs, who paid for the fly-around/dine around reception and panel discussion only (not the dinner) were justifiably a little put out because the dinner and photo session afterward went over by about 90 minutes, and seating was very limited in the main gallery.

But the panel discussion was more than worth the wait. I've been to about half a dozen of these panels involving Apollo astronauts, and while they are always fun, I don't go expecting to hear things I haven't heard before anymore. Well, I was surprised, because General Engle decided it was time to talk publicly about being booted off Apollo 17 in favor of "my very good friend Jack Schmitt." He had me in tears. What a class act.

After the panel discussion, most of the astronauts stayed upstairs waiting for the crowds to thin out, for which I do not blame them one iota, as it has been a very long day by that point. So special praise goes to Bruce McCandless who came down to mingle with the crowds and patiently posed for photos with us all for well over an hour.