posted 04-04-2019 09:12 AM               

Apollo 10 – The Team Who Got Us to the Moon

In the 50th anniversary year of the first moon landing, the National Space Centre, in collaboration with Nick Howes, is reuniting some of the team behind this historic achievement. Twelve humans stood on the lunar surface, but it took many thousands of scientists, engineers, mathematicians, makers, creators and thinkers to get them there.

In a celebration of these achievements, there will be opportunities to meet and discover the amazing stories of:

• Manfred "Dutch" von Ehrenfried
  
• Gerry Griffin
  
• Sy Liebergot
  
• Bill Moon

Culminating in a screening of "Mission Control: The Unsung Heroes of Apollo" in the Sir Patrick Moore Planetarium, this really will be one giant leap for mankind.

• Q&A in the Sir Patrick Moore Planetarium
  Saturday, May 18, 2019, 14:30-15:30

  Take a seat in the UKs largest planetarium for a hosted Q&A with our special Apollo guests.

• Autograph, Photograph and Book Signing
  Saturday, May 18, 2019, 15:45-16:45

  An opportunity to have a photograph with our guests or purchase an autograph or signed book.

• Apollo 10 Anniversary Dinner
  Saturday, May 18, 2019, 18:30-23:15

  Three course dinner in the heart of our galleries, followed by a Q&A session, prior to a screening of Mission Control: The Unsung Heroes of Apollo in the Sir Patrick Moore Planetarium.

• The Legacy of Apollo
  Saturday, May 18, 2019, 11:00-11:30

  The Apollo program was designed to land humans on the Moon and bring them safely back to Earth, but what did the Apollo missions give to humankind, how did they come about and what have we learnt in 50 years since humankind first left the bounds of low Earth orbit?

  Nick Howes, Director of Aerolite Meteorites and freelance science author, takes us on an entertaining journey through these and other thought-provoking questions.

• The Hunt for Snoopy
  Saturday, May 18, 2019, 13:00-13:30

  In 1969, the Apollo 10 crew ejected the lunar module “Snoopy” from the CSM into a heliocentric orbit. Nick Howes, along with legendary flight controllers and astronauts from the Apollo program, and “astrogator” Mike Loucks have spent a number of years, in a calculated hunt for the errant lunar module. This talk explains the background, the project plan and the very latest and exciting results of their search.

• Mission Control Brunch
  Sunday, May 19, 2019, 11:00-12:00

  A family friendly session with our special guests. Take a seat for an Apollo brunch, with an added Q&A session.

posted 05-20-2019 08:13 AM            

One interesting question was which was each one's own particular worrying moment of their time on console. Dutch von Ehrenfried told of his harrowing time during the Apollo 1 fire, Gerry Griffin described the lightning strike on the Apollo 12 launch when he was lead flight director for the first time. Sy Liebergot was of course when his screen went haywire on Apollo 13 and Bill Moon's was the worrying first Shuttle flight STS-1 when it was the first time the whole stack had been flown and with a manned crew as well.

Afterwards we met them all individually for photo and signing sessions and all were friendly and gave us time. For me it was good to meet Gerry and Sy again after a few years.