11/1: Moon rock exhibit event (Broward, Florida)

Broward County Main Library will celebrate the ten-year anniversary of the moon rock exhibit on Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2017 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The family of Apollo 7 astronaut Donn Eisele, who lived in Fort Lauderdale, donated the moon rock to the Broward County Libraries Division on October 23, 2007. The celebration is free and open to the public.

Francis French, Director of Education, San Diego Air & Space Museum, and editor of the book "Apollo Pilot: The Memoir of Astronaut Donn Eisele," will speak at the event. The title of the presentation is "The Forgotten Astronaut: Donn Eisele and Apollo 7." Books will be for sale that evening. Apollo 15 astronaut Al Worden will also speak that evening. The moon rock is from the Apollo 15 mission.

The moon rock was awarded through NASA's Ambassador of Exploration Award Program and is on display on the sixth floor of the Main Library. Apollo astronauts, on missions that took place between 1968 and 1972 were each given a portion of the 842 pounds of moon rock collected during the moon landings.

The Apollo 7 spacecraft crew consisted of Commander Walter M. Schirra, Jr., Command Module Pilot Donn F. Eisele, and Walter Cunningham as Lunar Module Pilot. NASA's first successful three-man space mission flew in Earth orbit from October 11 to October 22, 1968, so that the crew could check life-support, propulsion and control systems. A 20-minute film of the Apollo 7 mission runs continuously at the library exhibit. Photos of the Apollo 7 mission, space-related keepsakes and life-size replicas of astronauts are also on display.

The moon rock exhibit is secured and coordinated by the Broward Public Library Foundation.