Topic: Minnesota History Center: 'The 1968 Exhibit'
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 10-31-2017 08:55 AM
After a nationwide tour, The 1968 Exhibit returns to the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul for a final run, Dec. 23, 2017 to Jan. 21, 2019.
It's been 50 years since 1968: The Vietnam War, protests, assassinations. Peace signs, love-ins, psychedelic rock. From the darkest hours to the incredible highs, see the year come alive in this mind-blowing exhibit.
The exhibit features an area devoted to the Apollo 8 mission, including a full-size replica of an Apollo command module.
SpaceyInMN Member
Posts: 355 From: Andover, MN Registered: Dec 2013
posted 11-01-2017 08:05 PM
Thanks for the heads-up on this, Robert. This will be a good way to get some use out of our family membership to the Minnesota Historical Society.
Posts: 779 From: Chandler, AZ USA Registered: May 2003
posted 11-02-2017 12:14 PM
At the risk of sounding negative I just can't understand why companies that make models, big and small, and artists just can't get the configuration of spacecraft and launch vehicles correctly. For example, for this exhibit, the Apollo 8 Command Module should not have a docking probe. It wouldn't have taken much time or research to determine that. And don't get me started on all the Saturn V models and paintings that have the Saturn V 500F paint configuration. It's been 51 years since that engineering evaluation configuration was rolled out to LC-39 and it's still being used. There were 13 Saturn V launches; how difficult is it to use one of them, or any of the pre-launch photos for these missions, when developing a model or painting?
It reminds me of a lithograph commemorating the Apollo 11 mission showing the Apollo 11 Command Module/Service and Lunar Module in lunar orbit prior to docking after the LM lifted off from the lunar surface and the Service Module has a SIM bay.
The pre-publication version of this litho was on display at a gallery in Southern California and when I mentioned the "oversight" to the gallery manager he called the artist who assured me that he had done significant research on what the CM/SM should look like in his painting. I mentioned to him that as a long time space enthusiast and aerospace engineer I was certain that the configuration is incorrect and he should "triple check" photos from the Apollo 11 mission. I also mentioned that the panel underneath the LM pilot's window should be black, not silver (the Apollo 11 LM was the only one of the LMs that landed on the moon with this panel black).
I wasn't sure if he was going to follow my advice, but several months later when I saw an advertisement for the litho in Air&Space magazine I saw that he did incorporate the changes.
By the way, the images he used were from the Apollo 17 mission, which is why the SM had a SIM bay and the panel under the LM pilot's window was not black.