posted 11-04-2006 10:42 AM               

Took the day off work Friday! Had a relaxing and leisurly day at NASM. Had some quality time leaning on the rails, viewing and dreaming about the LEM. Same with SpaceShipOne. Neat to see the Wright Flyer up close again, but I miss it in the Milestones of Flight Gallery. Glad to see the Vin Fiz back in the museum after its' rest elsewhere.

Sometime, somewhere during the day I had special chats with Wally Schirra (we got to talk about fish and sea otters off the coast of California), Gene Cernan, and Alan Shepard's daughter Laura (the two times that I have had a chance to speak with her, she just beams with enthusiasm about her Dad and space). I also got to say hello to astronaut Tom Jones on Friday. He is a neat guy, too.

Returning to the NASM after a break at McDonalds trying to connect with new CS member Pol and his wife, I hold up my "newly made" CS sign. . . well, it was just CS on a file folder in blue sharpie.

So, "working the ticket line," I meet up with CS members Bill (spaceheaded), Bob Link, Curt (Glint), DJ (from Goddard), Dwayne C. (an avid autograph collector), Dox 1932 (I just remember him as the numbers guy [1932] and can never remember his name, but never forget his number {I'm rambling and babbeling}), Mike S. Pol, and Wayne (Scoop). Kevin Mac also realizes what the sign is saying and we meet for the first time. Kevin has on his flight jacket.

collectSpace works! It is always great to connect with my cS friends.

I start out in the overflow seating area wondering if I will get inside. Eventually, almost everyone, gets inside. The IMAX theater holds about 500.

It was a tremendous evening to hear what Wally Schirra, Tom Stafford, and Gene Cernan had to say about the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs. These men were teammates not only in missions but in the space program. . . a special bond.

The audience was on the edge of their seats listening carefully to every comment they made. The time passed too quickly. This was one of the best astronaut encounters ever (for me). I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Afterwards, NASM director Gen. Dailey announced that the astronauts would be signing one item each. I had bought all three books earlier of which two had been pre signed. So I took the opportunity to hopefully have a litho signed by each of the astronauts. Two of the three graciously signed, one politely decided not to (only minor disappointment of the night).

So, the day and evening at the NASM was one that I will not forget for a long time.

posted 11-04-2006 02:51 PM               

It was so great seeing you and Bill again last night -- 2nd time in two weeks. Thanks for introducing me to so many of the people you know, that was great.

Tom and I were disappointed when it turned out that even though I had reserved tickets through both the NASM web site and via personal e-mail from the space society -- 2 separate sets of tickets it turned out -- we wound up in overflow seating regardless!

Fortunately, you (Gary), Bill and his family, and Tom and myself were eventually reseated inside the theater for the main event. So it worked out after all.

I was behind Tom Jones going down the escalator after the show. Noticed that he ducked out of the building rather quickly.

Had a chance to talk to all three Apollo astronauts and Tom was kind enough to photograph me with my own camera shaking hands with them. The line was long so there wasn't much time for chatting, making comments, or asking questions.

I mentioned to Gene Cernan that the last chance I had to speak with him was at a post Apollo 17 press conference in Lincoln, Nebraska in early 1973 when I was still in high school. He looked me over and said "Boy, that was sure a long time ago!" He wasn't kidding.

Next I moved on and thanked Wally for choosing my 5th birthday for his Sigma 7 flight. His flight was the only thing that still stands out in my mind from that day. He took a good look at me now and said, "Boy, that sure was a long time ago."
He wasn't kidding either.

I think my comments sort of bummed the three of us out a little, so when I got to Tom Stafford I just held my tongue.

posted 11-04-2006 04:04 PM            

Same thing happened to me with the reserved tickets. They said the sponsor of the event needed more seats than anticipated. Gotta keep the sponsors happy, I suppose. My wife and daughter and I ended up in the very back row of the theater, as it turned out.

Most fun was listening to the three astros play off each other during the discussion. Wally added the humor, as could be predicted. And Cernan always strikes me as still being genuinely excited about his Apollo adventures. Certainly he is one who looks up at the moon and still can't believe his memory. He painted quite a picture (good as Al Bean!) when he described that moment before heading up the ladder for the last time...looking up at the blue and white marbled Earth hanging in the blackness of space, above the lunar mountains.... "like standing on God's front porch."

posted 11-04-2006 05:04 PM               

But all was not lost, as a friend booked theater (non-overflow) seats by email and offered us tickets. Good times! So I left work early, picked up my son, came back to the city, whereupon we were told by the NASM rep that they had "seriously overbooked" the theater and we would be in overflow (meaning there was no need for tickets at all). While I understand the need to appease the 'sponsors' who seem to rule NASM these days, if NASM is having events where only a few, or no, seats are really available, they should either close the event and have it only for the sponsors, or at least tell us the truth so we can make our own decisons on whether watching on a tv is worth the trouble and expense of making the trek. In my case, my son was unwilling to sit in a folding chair looking at old men on a TV screen, and I can't say I blame him. We went home after seeing that we would not get inside, and I doubt I will be able to get him to come back. A very poor performance by NASM, in my humble opinion. I know the event is 'free,' but I seriously don't think that excuses the inability, or unwillingness, of NASM to handle the matter in a professional manner.

Just my 2 cents worth; sorry to be venting...

[Edited by katabatic (November 04, 2006).]

posted 11-05-2006 07:03 AM               

(On a side note - being as short as I am, I LOVE stadium seating)

The Q&A format was great and Wally Schirra had the audience laughing with almost every comment. They all seemed happy to be there and we were happy to have them there.

The line for the booksigning was pretty long, but I got to meet some CS members in line and had great conversation with Garry.

I asked Gene Cernan about the Apollo 14 back-up patch. My wife thought he was the most charming in person of the three. I told Wally Schirra that I wanted to ask him if he was a Turtle during the audience Q&A part and he laughed and wrote "YBYSAIA" under his name, so that was was nice. Tom Stafford, while not as pleasant as the other two was still a pleasure to meet. I had my picture taken with all three of them.