posted 09-10-2023 03:29 AM               

• The 15th anniversary of Europe's largest exhibition on human space flight "Apollo and Beyond" and the Soviet space shuttle Buran OK-GLI, the counterpart of the U.S. space shuttle Enterprise OV-101.

• The 40th anniversary of the Space Shuttle mission STS-9 Spacelab 1, the maiden flight of the European designed and built science laboratory Spacelab aboard the orbiter Columbia OV-102, with lecture by ESA astronaut Ulf Merbold about his mission. Ulf Merbold was the first non-US astronaut to fly aboard a US spacecraft. The original Spacelab training module where Ulf Merbold prepared for his mission is part of the "Apollo and Beyond" exhibition.

• The 2nd anniversary of the launch of ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer aboard the SpaceX Dragon Crew-3 spacecraft "Endurance" on his ISS long-duration mission Expedition 66 "Cosmic Kiss." Grand opening of his exhibition area, with more than 20 artifacts mostly flown, and lecture about his mission.

Finally, there will be a roundtable discussion with first generation ESA astronaut Ulf Merbold and third generation ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer, moderated by Gerhard Daum.

posted 09-11-2023 03:01 AM               

Matthias Maurer will be the 64th flown astronaut/cosmonaut to visit the exhibition, give a lecture and participate in other activities. He was already actively involved in my two major events for the Apollo 11 anniversary in 2019 with lectures and round table discussions. But he had not yet flown, so he will not be immortalized on my autograph boards until November.