posted 06-18-2016 03:38 PM               

I have always been interested in space travel. As a kid I was a fan of Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers, but I never dreamed that in my lifetime we would actually fly in space... then came the Soviet Union with Sputnik. Washington was all a twitter as if the world was coming to an end. Maybe I was naive, but I didn't think so. To me it was an exciting time to hear Sputnik's beep-beep, despite being in a cold war.

When cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was the first to fly in space orbiting the earth, I sent a letter of congratulations to the Soviet Embassy in Washington, D.C. To my surprise a few weeks later I received a package and letter from them thanking me, dated May 5, 1961, signed by Oleg Sokolov, Press Secetary, Embassy of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics. The letter stated in part:

This victory is another eloquent proof what free men living in a socialist society can attain within a historically short period of time. We regard this event as a victory of all mankind and are pleased the joy of victory is being shared by the American people together with the Soviet people.

As the American space program got underway, I recorded the flights on tape from the TV. The quality was not good but it was the best I could get at the time. I watched with glee all the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo flights that were televised and was really saddened by the tragedy of Apollo 1 and the canceling of the Apollo program after 17.

The shuttle program was interesting but did not have the same spark of interest for me as the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo flights and my enthusiasm for space faded a little. Then in the fall of 1993 I heard about a space auction being held by Superior Galleries in Los Angeles. Before the auction you were able to inspect, handle and touch any item you were interested in. There were about 50 people in attendance with many others on the phone.

Hooked again, I attended the auctions every spring and fall until Superior stopped, then Aurora Galleries began and those attending in person got to know each other and exchanged stories. Dave Scott attended once (he had several items in the auction) and we all gathered around him and had great conversations before and during the break. Robert Pearlman attended several times and that is where I first met him. Once internet bidding became popular fewer people attended in person and now when I bid online I miss that personal contact.

However I found that you can still have that personal contact by attending the space autograph shows. I heard about the 2004 Sim and Hankow show in Burbank, a suburb of Los Angeles, Ca. There I met in person Scott Carpenter, Tom Stafford, Buzz Aldrin, Alan Bean and Richard Gordon, Dave Scott, Charlie Duke, Gene Cernan, launch pad leader Guenter Wendt and EECOM Sy Liebergot.

At the banquet, my wife and I had dinner with Tom Stafford. He told us about his spaceflights and adopting two Russian children.

In 2005 the Sims and Hankow show moved to New Jersey. There we met Gordon Cooper, Walt Cunnungham, Rusty Schweikart, Edgar Mitchell and cosmonauts Alexei Leonov and Valentina Tereshkova.

At our banquet table with Alan Bean, Alexei Leonov came up from behind and surprised Alan with a big hug.

The Sims and Hankow Show in San Antonio, Texas, was a big hit too. Waiting to board the plane to San Antonio, Wally Schirra sat down beside us and we dad a good chat. After arriving, my sister and brother-in-law arrived to pick us up to take us to our hotel. Wally was standing and looking around. I asked if someone was meeting him. He said that someone was supposed to but hasn't shown up. My brother-in-law offered him a ride and we all piled into his car.

As it happens, my brother-in-law was a flight control operator out of Houston in the 1960s and he said that he guided in many astronauts returning home. That brought a howl out of Wally and he said, "You probably brought me in too." Then Wally began to tell stories of his and some other astronauts return flights and about how he, sometimes, would calculate to see how close he could come to landing before he ran out of fuel.

At the show I met Al Worden, cosmonaut Pavel Popovich and flight director Gene Kranz. We were fortunate enough to be seated next to Buzz Aldrin at the banquet and he discussed how to fly to Mars and of his planned trip to the South Pole.

The 2007 Sims and Hankow Show at the Kennedy Space Center was the last but the best of all. We got a personal tour of the complex including Mission Control and the launch site for Alan Shepard's first flight and complex 34 where the Apollo 1 crew lost their lives.

The highlights were meeting Jim Lovell, watching the launch of STS-117 and being seated at the banquet next to Apollo 16 moonwalker Charlie Duke. We talked about his walking on the moon and his grandchildren. He is one of the nicest and most approachable of all of the astronauts that I have met.

In 2007, Spacefest 1 was in Phoenix, sponsered by Kim Poor. Kim not only introduced astronauts but also speakers and authors.

At the banquet we sat with Charlie Walker who flew three shuttle missions where he performed scientific experiments on instruments that he designed and used in space. He explained some of the results of his experiments and what it was like to fly in space.

Spacefest 2, in 2009, was in San Diego, Ca. and we met for the first time Jim McDivitt, Michael Collins and Vance Brand. Speakers Carolyn Shoemaker and David Levy told about discovering the Shoemaker-Levy comet that crashed into Juipter and Carolyn Porco spoke about her (Saturn) Cassini project.

Lunch was with Edgar Mitchell and he told us about his ESP experiments and other projects. Alan Shepard had said that the golf ball he hit on the moon went miles and mles, but Edgar said it didn't go far at all because the spacesuits they were wearing was very stiff and Alan could not get the flexibility into his swing to make it go far. I have a letter by Shepard saying that one of his fondest memories is how well he got along with his crew. I asked Edgar if he got along well with Alan and he said that he got along very well with Alan, but only on a professional level, they did not socialize together.

The banquet dinner was with Rusty Schweikart and his wife and we talked about his space sickness, his space walk and his interest in locating near asteroids and their possible threat to our planet.

Spacefest 3 was in Tuscon, Az. in 2011. It is in a beautiful desert setting and the Starr Pass Resort is a great place to stay. I am glad that it was held there again this year. There are many places to see and we visited the Prima Air and Space Museum, the Air Force "boneyard" and the Titan Missile Museum where I got to push the missile fire launch button.

We met Tom Bopp, had a nice conversation and he gave me a 14x11 inch autographed photo of the Hale-Bopp comet.

Spacefest 4, in 2012, was at the same site in Tucson. Al Rochford, a NASA suit technician from Mercury to shuttle, 1960-1997, gave an excellent talk about his experience.

A big hit was a group of smart teenagers from a Swiss school. They surrounded Buzz Aldrin asking him numerous questions and Buzz seemed to be really enjoying it. My wife, Pat, also talked to them and they were so well mannered that she fell in love with them and wanted to take them home.

We were seated at the banquet table with Walt Cunningham and his wife. We had met them several times before and talked about many space and non-space related topics.

We did miss Spacefest 5 but did make it to 6 in Pasadena, Ca., in 2014. We were having lunch with some other people that were attending and Fred Haise stopped at our table and for 10 to 15 minutes we enjoyed a very pleasant visit. It is these unexpected happenings that make the shows so enjoyable.

We were seated at the banquet table with seven-time shuttle astronaut Jerry Ross. He was very sociable and he discussed and fielded questions about his many spacewalks and his life after retiring from NASA. Meeting him perked my interest in the shuttle program again.

We just returned from Spacefest 7 in Tucson and had a great time again. The speakers were excellent and I enjoyed talking to the astronauts, Mission Control engineers, astronomers and authors. The best deal in the house, according to Al Worden, was his signed copy, "Falling to Earth" for $20. I couldn't pass up a bargain so I bought two. I also bought a first printing signed copy of Michael Collin's "Carrying the Fire." I had been looking for that for several years.

At the banquet, we were seated with Dr. Rhea Seddon, a veteran of three shuttle flights. Chosen in the first round of women astronauts, she is a fascinating woman who discussed some of the medical tests/experiments she performed in space. She is married to astronaut Hoot Gibson and I asked if there were any discussions by NASA to have them fly together. The answer was no.

Outside telescopes were set up alowing us to see Mars, Saturn's rings & four of Jupiter's moons and some constellations.

I'm glad that I got to meet some of you at Spacefest but time goes too fast to meet all.

Have I added to my space collection? Yes, the most important of all are the memories of meeting all these brave and fascinating people. I have:

• A photo of Apollo 8's "Earthrise" on which I have "in person" autographs of all the astronauts and cosmonauts that I have met.

• A flown flag from each of the Apollo flights (most purchased directly from the astronuts). A newspaper, dated Monday, July 21, 1969, headline "Man Lands on the Moon", signed by Neil Armstrong and another Soviet newspaper "Izvestia", dated 12 April, 1961, extoling Gagarin's flight, inscribed and signed by Gagarin.