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  12/16: Rendezvous in Space 50th (Oklahoma)

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Author Topic:   12/16: Rendezvous in Space 50th (Oklahoma)
Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42986
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 11-20-2015 10:08 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The Oklahoma History Center is hosting a dinner and program in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the world's first rendezvous in space, highlighting the Gemini VIA and Gemini VII missions.

Wednesday, December 16, 2015; 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Oklahoma History Center
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Guests include: Tom Stafford, Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, David Scott, Gene Cernan, Al Bean, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins and Shannon Lucid.

KSCartist
Member

Posts: 2896
From: Titusville, FL USA
Registered: Feb 2005

posted 11-20-2015 02:21 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for KSCartist   Click Here to Email KSCartist     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I was hoping to interest them in my "Spirit of 76" commemorative. I gifted one to each Tom Stafford, Frank Borman and Jim Lovell. They all complimented me on it.

Alas the host organization declined.

kosmo
Member

Posts: 388
From:
Registered: Sep 2001

posted 12-04-2015 11:01 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for kosmo     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Is this event open to the public? If so, are tickets available?

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42986
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 12-04-2015 12:03 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
There were individual tickets available (I don't know if the event has sold out or not). Best to call the Oklahoma History Center and inquire.

taylor.vans
Member

Posts: 38
From: Seattle, Washington
Registered: Apr 2015

posted 12-04-2015 01:31 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for taylor.vans   Click Here to Email taylor.vans     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I just purchased my ticket the other day and she said there were still a few tickets available! The phone number on there goes straight to automation so I had to leave a message, but they got back to me within a couple of hours.

JasonB
Member

Posts: 1091
From:
Registered: Sep 2003

posted 12-17-2015 02:31 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for JasonB   Click Here to Email JasonB     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Had a great time at this last night but I have no idea how they can advertise all these people and not have half of them there. Only Aldrin, Bean, Lovell and Stafford were in attendance. Glynn Lunney and a few flight people were there too. They clearly didn't even confirm that the people advertised were attending and offered no explanation why Borman, Collins, Cernan and Scott weren't there. Why not just say that Babe Ruth will be there too? Just not the way to do things.

That being said, it was a nice event. Glynn Lunney is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet.

taylor.vans
Member

Posts: 38
From: Seattle, Washington
Registered: Apr 2015

posted 12-18-2015 12:04 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for taylor.vans   Click Here to Email taylor.vans     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I fully agree with Jason, the dinner was great but the guest attendance was anybody's guess it seemed. I unfortunately had to leave early because I had ordered a taxi to pick me up an hour after the dinner was scheduled to end, the guests did not even step on the stage to speak until 30 minutes after the planned end time...so in short I missed a lot of the conversation because of the delay.

I called the museum weeks prior to the event and they had told me that there was not going to be a photographer on site and that the guests would be mingling with the astronauts before the dinner, this unfortunately was also not entirely true. They did end up getting a photographer and to my knowledge did a group photo with the astronauts after the event according to the dinner program that night. (which is great, just wish I would have known that instead of being told there wouldn't be one) The astronauts did show up to chat for a short bit but it was hit or miss if you got a chance to talk one on one.

For $150 it was a GREAT event! I cannot complain at all, meeting the men who made history what it is today and all for $150 is the best thing I have done. I showed up very early to the event and was one of the lucky ones who got to see their press conference, even though I have heard the stories a million times it felt like I was hearing it for the first time

Larry McGlynn
Member

Posts: 1255
From: Boston, MA
Registered: Jul 2003

posted 12-18-2015 05:32 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Larry McGlynn   Click Here to Email Larry McGlynn     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I attended the event too. What you saw was the change that is coming. I can tell you that all those who were absent had committed to the event and within 36 hours prior to the event had to cancel for various reasons. Dave Scott due to over scheduling with family holiday events. Frank Borman and Gene Cernan due to an illness in their families. These guys and their wives are aging. While they are still in pretty good shape, they are all over 80. I give them a pass and was just glad to see Stafford and Lovell talk about the 1st rendezvous.

Getting to OKC is tough. I know that fact, because it takes all day for me to travel from Boston to OKC. The General found me at the gate in DFW and we chatted for five hours while we waited for a change of planes due to a mechanical problem. It is a long travel day.

Most of the guys committed to Stafford and the Historical Society and, unfortunately, they had to cancel. While it is a disappointment, to the cS members who attended, they saw a vanishing breed.

It was a pretty good event due to Stafford, Lovell, Bean, Aldrin and Lunney putting on a good show. Never knew that Al Bean was the guy who didn't call liftoff on Gt-6 and in doing so caused Wally not to eject. As Glynn Lunney stated, sometimes it is the decision "not" to do something that is crucial.

I hope that those of you that got to the event took some time to drive out to the Stafford Air and Space Museum. There is more than a acre of displays inside the museum now. Plus they have just finished restoring an F-104 and will be mounting it on a mammoth steel post at an 85 degree climb angle in front of the museum as early as next Monday. The place is becoming a major aerospace attraction.

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