posted 11-11-2008 07:04 AM               

To everyone else at the show that I had the opportunity to meet, what an exciting weekend. Being surrounded by astronauts and other enthusiasts made this an absolutely unforgettable event.

Enough cannot be said about the ASF, they really did an outstanding job for it being the first event that they put on by themselves.

A huge thank you to all of the astronauts who attended. You were all great, I especially appreciate your participating in the special events like the Shuttle Launch Experience, Bus Tour, Airshow, and both Banquets. You helped make each of these spectacular.

posted 11-11-2008 10:32 AM               

The astronauts were as usual very kind and some of the stories they shared were awesome. I brought Mr. Lovell his glasses case that I recently won at the HA auction and he showed me on his suit-up photo that I had him sign where he stowed them. He even circled the spot and wrote the word "glasses". I then went over to Mr. Cernan and had my photo with him while he was holding the descent electrical (DC) power schematic from the LM Systems Data Manual. He even took the time to explain parts of the schematic. What a thrill!!!

To the old friends that I saw, it was great to see you again...To the new friends I met, it was a pleasure.

Until we meet again....Keep looking Up!!!

posted 11-11-2008 01:52 PM               

Front row: Name (missions), Name (missions), etc.
Back row: Name (missions), etc.

Even just the names would be greatly appreciated. I think I'm going to mat my photo so that our legs are covered, with a listing of names below.

posted 11-11-2008 02:40 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by bigcrash3:
My only complaint is I wish it were a little easier to spot fellow cS'rs at these events. I would love to put a face with a name or UserName.

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posted 11-11-2008 07:56 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by stsmithva:
Could one of my fellow attendees who did the pre-dinner "photo op" (and who is better with names and faces than me) do many of us a favor?

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Back Row - Vance Brand, Walt Cunningham, Charlie Duke, Ed Mitchell, Alan Bean, Paul Weitz, Fred Haise.

Front row - Jack Lousma, Joe Kerwin, Dave Scott, Buzz Aldrin, YOU, Jim Lovell, Al Worden and Hank Hartsfield.

I'm going to crop out the legs and platform as well.

Hope your models arrived safe and sound and your wife enjoyed her Lovell photo. I know you'll show your video to your students with pride.

posted 11-11-2008 08:48 PM               

I want to say that was one of the best times i ever had. The ASF did a great job and if I have a regret it was that I did not buy a Platinum pass. That aside I want to say what an amazing time it was. I walked in the lobby Thursday and ran right into Alan Bean.

I knew it was the right place.

Many thanks to Charlie Duke, Jim Lovell, Guenter Wendt and in particular Charlie Bolden for really making it fun for my daughter. Not many 5 years can say when they grow up they had their photo taken with Jim Lovell and Fred Haise. Special thanks from me to Jack Lousma who have us an excellent bus tour and allowed me to talk to him later about his experience and also to Vance Brand and Charlie Bolden at the bar after. And also the many new friends I made from the cS web. We had so much fun we are already talking about coming back next year.

posted 11-11-2008 10:45 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by stsmithva:
Could one of my fellow attendees who did the pre-dinner "photo op" (and who is better with names and faces than me) do many of us a favor?

---

posted 11-12-2008 07:11 AM               

In speaking of this weekend, all I can say is...WOW!!!! (and awesome, phenomenal, fantastic, terrific, unforgettable, spectacular - well, you get the idea!). I guess there were words after all!! Special thanks and appreciation also to Linn and her ASF staff, to the wonderful volunteers, and, of course, to the astronauts and special guests themselves. It was truly a weekend I'll never forget!

posted 11-12-2008 10:27 AM               

The ASF staff were great, the astronuats were friendly (and patient), the Air Show was spectacular, and it was especially great meeting so many of you (Hi Sarah, Tom, Roger, Francis, David, etc.)

Lisa

posted 11-12-2008 04:49 PM            

Overall, it was pretty well organized. Clearly you needed to have a Platinum Pass to really have a good time; there was a lot of grousing at our banquet table about the Platinums cutting into line (especially Aldrin's line, which barely moved for over an hour on Friday as a result). A couple credit card machines kept malfunctioning (Charlie Duke's and Lovell's come to mind, but there was at least another that was causing mild cursing in the booth). Our Gold group from the tour got ushered into the Platinum VIP tent (though we didn't know that was what it was), and it was a serious downgrade to be cast out again into the blazing sun, far from the astronauts. It would have been nice to have *some* accommodation for the Gold Pass holders other than being left to fend for ourselves with the general admission folks, even if it was just a set of bleachers. So we left early and went back and rode the Shuttle Launch Experience instead. Hearing about the mob mayhem that resulted from folks getting on buses to return, we're really, really glad we did that.

Bob Springer was our tour guide of the KSC and he was great all the way around; Fred Gregory was at our table for dinner and he was very enjoyable too, though a couple folks hardly got a chance to get a word in edgewise.

I pretty much stayed on budget (I did splurge on adding Lovell, Haise and Lousma to my Apollo 13 Mission Control hat I got from Sy Liebergot in San Antonio), and accidentally ruined one book that I brought along to be signed, but luckily not one that will be hard to replace, or that was already signed. I still can't figure out what happened to it, but it's now covered in black ink, even though all the pens that were anywhere near it were in a closed baggie and weren't leaking. Mysterious, indeed. But my Alan Bean Apollo book now is happily crammed with Apollo signatures (Aldrin nicked my an additional $50 to add "Apollo 11", and I only saved an additional $150 charge by asking him to sign on a page that hadn't already been signed. But that's just Buzz being Buzz, I guess.)

And many, many thanks to Ken Havekotte for taking a look at my Armstrong and describing it as "perfect!" That made my day nearly as much as anything else!

posted 11-14-2008 02:12 PM               

Thursday afternoon I hung out in the Regency-Superior appraisal clinic at our great hotel for a couple of hours, enjoying seeing what my fellow collectors brought in. Later I asked some people already hanging out in the lobby if they were going to be attending "the astronaut event", only to find out that one of them was Al Worden. Yeah, he might have heard something about it.

Friday morning I went to KSC for the Shuttle Launch Experience. I was lucky enough to sit next to shuttle astronaut Tom Jones, who told us some first-hand details about shuttle launches, reentering the Earth's atmosphere, and becoming re-acquainted with the Earth's gravity. (Photo is dark because I didn't want to blast a flash in his face- or in Francis's, I see.)

Exiting the Shuttle Launch Experience, one walks down a long, spiraling ramp with plaques from each mission.

This was taken from within the Rocket Garden, with the Debus Conference Facility in the right background. That's where the astronauts signed items on Friday and Sunday- note the sign.

posted 11-14-2008 02:14 PM               

Paul Weitz signed a little Skylab model. (I'll install the solar panels now that it's safely home.)

I don't think this exhibit on Orion is completely accurate, but I got this nice shot of it aimed directly at the moon, just like they had to do with each Apollo launch.

posted 11-14-2008 02:15 PM               

Duke was especially friendly all weekend. I understand the absolute necessity of "down time" for the astronauts during events like this- on Sunday afternoon, for example, a couple relaxed poolside for hours hopefully without being approached by attendees. (No, I didn't watch them for hours, thank you- I noticed them a couple of times in my wanderings.) But Duke was happy to talk with people several times during off hours. I'll echo those who have called him wonderfully friendly and an all-around fine gentleman.

Astronaut-guided tour of KSC on Saturday morning. Here's the place you've seen on TV many times: the astronauts exit the Operations and Checkout Building and get in the AstroVan for the 20-minute drive to the launch pad.

There were still tread tracks in the gravel from Endeavor's rollout.

Endeavor on the launch pad.

Dave Scott with Endeavor in the background.

The Vehicle Assembly Building with Jim Lovell. The bus driver had some handy figures for comprehending the size of the building: The stars in the flag are six feet wide, the blue field is the size of a basketball court, you could drive the tour bus on one of the stripes, and Yankee Stadium would fit on the roof. (!)

posted 11-14-2008 02:19 PM               

I was sitting with Lovell right behind me at the next table. Here he is waving when asked to stand and be recognized for his work with the ASF.

I sat at Scott Carpenter’s table. He was great to talk with. He told me advice for my brother about living in Colorado with a small child, and then had fascinating details about his mission. I mentioned that I’d read he was the first American to eat solid food in space, and he said that I might not know it was radioactive! They wanted to scan his system after the flight to make sure the food was moving on down as normal and hadn’t tried to float back up in zero-G. He said that didn’t make sense to him, since you can stand on your head and swallow and the muscles force the food to your stomach. If everything works in NEGATIVE one-g, why wouldn’t it in zero-g?

I also asked if anything appeared different in orbit than he expected after all the training and photographs, and he mentioned a couple of things. I thought it was interesting that he was impressed by being able to see the colors of sunrises and sunsets for a just a few seconds each though a sliver of atmosphere.

Speaking of sunrises, here is the one Sunday morning a few blocks from our hotel.

posted 11-14-2008 02:20 PM               

A sloppy last shot of about half of the "signing room" as things were winding down Sunday afternoon. At the lower left are the photo op photos waiting to be picked up. Lovell and Haise are over at the right, with several Skylab astronauts beyond them, including Al Bean. To my left would be Al Worden, Dave Scott and about seven other astronauts and space program figures, including the fantastic Dee O'Hara. Over on the left wall were Buzz Aldrin, Vance Brand, Ed Mitchell, and the Moonpans table. Around the middle were several shuttle astronauts and a few tables for dealers, such as Ken Havekotte, who was just as nice in person as he has been via e-mail. To my right is Bill Pogue's garage sale- he wasn't able to attend, so he sent in dozens of signed space-related books and publications from his personal library. I picked up a few.

After the show ended, a couple new friends and I went to the Astronaut Hall of Fame. I didn't know what to expect, but I was very impressed. The history of the space program was well told, and there was an excellent collection of artifacts. For example, here is a page from the Apollo 13 flight plan, full of crossed-out plans and jotted-in improvisations.

Then here are both lunar surface cuff checklists from Apollo 14, along with Mitchell's Omega Speedmaster.

In closing, I'll just say that while meeting so many astronauts and experiencing Kennedy Space Center for the first time was fantastic, it wouldn't have been the same without getting to meet so many wonderful fellow enthusiasts.

posted 11-14-2008 04:07 PM               

The air show made for a great afternoon. You could stare in wonder at the sky, flinch when surprised by an especially low and close pass, and have conversations with astronauts and other attendees during lulls. (Buzz Aldrin seemed honestly interested in talking about his graduate thesis- just as the Blue Angels began their performance. ("If you are on the same orbital pl-"RRRRROOOOARRRRRRRRR. Maybe next time.)

Air show finale.

posted 11-14-2008 05:08 PM               

It was wonderful to spend time with my dear friends Paul Bramley, Mark Janovec, Yvan Voirol, Fred Janik, Mark Pattison, Brad Mackinnon & Rob Sumowski (plus all the other great people I've forgotten to name!).

I've now put online the items I had signed at the show along with a couple of other items that I got from others at the show... including two wonderful Jack Swigert signed items that I bought from Ken Havecotte.... and Ken, I want to thank you very much for such a great deal!

posted 11-15-2008 04:07 PM               

It was great to meet again with Yvan, Derek (with his better half), Paul and Mark J and Brian for the first time, not forgetting Al "the legend" Hallonquist (sorry for the others whose names I did not catch)

It was also great - and something I'd never thought possible just a few years ago - to be recognized by some of the astronauts, Al W. and Charlie D. in particular.

The event in itself was great and I am very happy to hear it was really successful in its drive to finance a few more scholarships.

I had opted for a platinum pass (on a "if you go this far, then go all the way" idea) and never regretted it.

The Friday evening reception was wonderful, we ended up at a table featuring shuttle astronauts Tom Jones and Hank Hartsfield, plus Charlie Duke! You can hardly do better than this...

The KSC VIP tour with Al Worden was great - and the way we were treated for the airshow was really appreciated. I had dinner on the Saturday at Jim Lovell's table and unfortunately - the only gripe for the whole week-end - the close proximity to the speakers meant I heard much more Bob Marley than Jim, even though several of us asked for the music to be turned off during the dinner. Oh well.

Kennedy Space Center was fantastic, somehow I expected more of a "fake, theme-park style" place but I was happy to be wrong and really enjoyed the repeat visits there (it was really humbling to visit pad 34 in particular).

I did not get so many signatures (a signed copy of Homesteading Space, a Mitchell on a Moonpan, and a nice Al Bean 16x20 inscribed to my daughter). I also was happy to meet Ken Havekotte and left his stall the happy owner of a nice Von Braun working paper.

Unfortunately I missed the launch by 3 days but still it was a great holiday. Thank you to everyone involved in arranging this.

posted 11-16-2008 12:42 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by stsmithva:
Oops, forgot a couple of shots from Saturday:

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posted 11-16-2008 01:54 PM               

Here is one link that leads to all my photos.

Sorry we didn't get to meet up, I had to have a nap during the cS get together! The attractions of aging I guess.

posted 11-16-2008 09:37 PM               

I Met Tom and his teenage son from Chicago. I do not think they are members of the CS web but I urged them to join. Tom was not a space nut but his son was and I am sorry I had to leave Sunday without meeting up at the show that morning. We met at the bar every night and had some laughs. Again my apologies for not meeting up one more time, I drove to the show and grabbed the last two autographs I wanted and was sorry I did not have time before catching my ship to meet up again. I hope we will meet at another show some time.

I also enjoyed speaking to Sarah at the bar Saturday after the diner. I real pleasure meeting her.

I had a good time through the weekend talking to various CS members at the Radisson bar. And Saturday I enjoyed talking to Vance Brand, Charlie Duke and Al Warden and in particular Charlie Bolden who was suffering a sore throat and came for honey and tea and ended up shooting the breeze at the bar watching the Texas game.

I knew I was in the right spot when Thursday when we walked in the lobby to check in and ran right into Alan Bean talking to the girls at the ASF booth. Later I came to the lobby only to find my wife who is not a space geek say "Do you know who Scott Carpenter is?" dumb struck of course the answer was yes. My wife explained how for the last five minutes while I was changing the batteries in my camera he had been playing with my 5 year old daughter in the lobby.

Saturday morning my daughter I was trying to chase my daughter down as she ran into the restaurant bouncing off a gentleman’s leg and when he turned and laughed it was Gene Cernan. He sat at a table next to us for breakfast and a few minutes later in walks Jim Lovell who sat at the table next to Mr. Cernan. Amazing!!!

At the show Charlie Bolden, Jim Lovell, Guenter Wendt, Charlie Duke and Dee O'Hara were kind to my daughter. Beyond the Price of autographs (I confess I blew my budget and then some, adding Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, Ed Mitchell, Dave Scott, Vance Brand, Fred Gregory, Al Warden, Charlie Bolden, Charlie Duke, Geunter Wendt and Dee O'Hara to my collection) there was so much going on.

What a great time.

I was sorry I did not get a better chance to speak to Francis French who signed a copy of "In the Shadow of the Moon". Francis was busy at the show handling Dee O'Hara's singings but was kind enough to sign a copy to my daughter which Dee O'Hara also signed under the dedication. Thank you to both of them.

I had one of those moments brain numb moments where you have a thousand questions for someone and cannot think of a single one of them. For me that was with Dave Scott. I just could not think of a single question and then kicked myself later as the questions flooded in, to late to ask them.

I had a nice conversation with Vance Brand, Fred Haise and Fred Gregory.

I also really enjoyed the bus tour I did of the KSC with Jack Lousma. What a great tour and a nice guy. Sunday morning I could only attend the show for a few minutes and had him sign a limited edition print for me and we had a good conversation and really enjoyed talking to him. Great guy.

Other moments I remember sitting at the hotel patio with my wife and daughter between the air show and the diner and realized sitting next to me playing cards over a glass of wine was Al Warden and Joe Kerwin. Not and every day occurrence.

I also want to thank Michael Constantine of Moon Pans for the great job he did on the two Pans I bought from him. Charlie Duke signed one and Dave Scott and Al Warden signed the other. Nice.

I have to say my only regret is I was unable to get a platinum pass and settled for Gold. Still I was an amazing weekend and I cannot wait for the announcement of next years show.

posted 11-16-2008 10:57 PM            

I sat at Mike Mullane's table at the dinner, we all had a discussion of the one winged landing on YouTube. We were discussing if it was fake or not, and Snopes came up. I found the link, emailed it to him and he replied right away. What a great guy. I think our table won the "Most Fun" award. Who else had a guy play Violin at their table??

I consolidated my photos ("Hoot", Crippen, Springer and Wendt are from other events).

posted 11-17-2008 06:39 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by ColinBurgess:
So what was his opinion on that one-wing landing clip, Sarah?

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posted 11-17-2008 08:05 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by gliderpilotuk:
Unless you're referring to the Israeli F-15, it's a well-known viral marketing ploy by Killathrill clothing.

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posted 11-17-2008 02:25 PM               

Overall, I think the ASF did an excellent job...especially considering this was the first event of this type that they had put together. Any reservations I may have had about the event were largely put to rest once the weekend started. Like any event of this size and complexity, there are a number of pros and cons. In an effort to offer constructive criticism, here are the ones I noticed:

Pros:

1. The VIP reception on Friday night might have been on the highlights of the entire weekend. In many regards, it was even better than the Saturday night dinner. At one point in the evening, Charlie Duke, Hark Hartsfield, and Tom Jones were sitting at our table...all telling excellent stories. It also seemed like there was more time to talk with the guests during this event.

2. The variety of activities made this much more than an autograph show. In fact, I think the ASF may have done themselves a disservice by advertising this as an autograph show...since the shuttle launch simulator, VIP reception, VIP tour, air show, Saturday night dinner made this much more. In some respects, most of these events outshined the autograph portion of the weekend.

3. The air show was another highlight of the weekend. Seeing the show with so many astronauts nearby made it all the more exciting.

4. The inclusion of several shuttle astronauts was a welcome addition. The shuttle astronauts have just as many great stories to tell...and many of them are stories we likely haven't heard (unlike the M-G-A era guys who have told a lot of their stories in interviews and books already). After talking with Fred Gregory for a while, I think Jack Lousma might have a new competitor for "nicest astronaut." I only wish more people had taken advantage of meeting the shuttle astros and getting their autographs...as most of them donated 100% of their fees to the ASF. Indeed, many of them say they even avoid touching the money, because they don't want any part of it.

Cons:

1. The biggest complaint I (and others I talked to) was one that is easily rectified: there needed to be more table space in the Debus Center. The autograph tables were so small that it was hard to get your stuff "organized"...especially if you got multiple items signed. I often found myself searching for a bit of floor area where I could lay out my photos and get organized between visiting different tables (and letting stuff dry if signed in metallic ink). This would be easily fixed by either increasing table size or by adding a few "staging" tables around the room for people to organize their stuff. The ASF auction tables, on the other hand, took up too much of the room...with roughly 20 or so laptop computers for bidding (even though I rarely saw more than 2-3 used at any given time). The ASF auction table could either be reduced in size or moved into the hallway outside the autograph show where the raffle tickets for the watch was being sold (assuming the next event is held in the same location). If future events are held in another location, perhaps the ASF could consider keeping dealers and guests in seperate areas, in order to keep the layout more logical and orderly.

2. While I was very happy with my dinner seating assignment, I heard several complaints about dinner seating assignments not being revealed until the dinner had started. Certainly one can understand the difficulty in making sure everyone is happy with their seating assignment. However, the lack of advance notice meant there was no opportunity for people to do their "homework" on the guest they were assigned to sit with. If one is seated next to a guest whose missions one might not be familiar with, it is always nice to brush up a little on that guest's history in order to have an intelligent conversation. (Let's face it...not many people know the history of every singly shuttle mission.) Since it appears the seating chart was prepared at least a couple days before the dinner, perhaps the seating assignments could have been revealed when people picked up their tickets on Thursday or Friday.

3. The unanimous opinion of everyone I hung around with was that the Radisson hotel was well below expectations. Granted, this is pretty much beyond the ASF's control...so I don't particularly lay any blame at their feet for this one. Perhaps the ASF can consider other locations next time besides the Radisson. I know that if I attend another event at the Cape, I will personally look for another hotel to sleep in...since cheaper (and nicer) alternatives exist in the area.

Most of the other complaints I had are either minor (i.e. nitpicky) or dealt with factors the ASF couldn't control (including the rude behavior of one of the guest handlers and the even ruder behavior of someone seated with us at the Fred Haise table). My thanks goes to the ASF for putting together a wonderful event that I'm sure will only get even better in the future.

And, of course, one of the true highlights of events like these is meeting fellow collectors and friends whom I've gotten to know through collectSPACE and other online message boards. There are way too many to mention, but it was great to spend time with Paul Bramley, Derek Horne, Fredric Janik, Yvan Voirol, Al Hallonquist, etc...plus it was nice to meet Ken Havekotte and Donnis Willis for the first time. I look forward to more events where we can all meet up again!

Mark

posted 11-19-2008 03:12 AM               

With respect to the show there definitely needs to be an improved layout and tables for collectors. I found myself scrabbling on the floor trying to sort out my 16x20s several times. This is my only minor gripe in a well-organised show where Linn and her team were clearly working very hard.

Unfortunately we both encountered the rude behaviour of the "handler". It is unacceptable for people to butt into someone else's conversation with an astronaut (for whom one has stood in line), just to prove their importance. Manners cost nothing.

The "bargain" of the show was Lovell's $20 fee for signing "Houston..." There was some interesting speculation as to the wildly varying percentages of fees from each astronaut actually going to the ASF, which makes you wonder why the figure isn't 100%.

Paul

posted 11-19-2008 01:07 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by garymilgrom:
I have stayed at the Hilton Cocoa Beach twice and find it to be an excellent hotel.

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posted 11-19-2008 03:46 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Mark Zimmer:
I'm surprised to hear complaints about the Radisson; our room (a King Suite) was very nice indeed

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The Radisson appears to be broken up into several buildings...so it's possible some of the buildings are in the better state of repair than others. I know the worst complaints I heard came from a fellow who was also sleeping in the "700" building that we were in.

As Paul said, the staff were generally great. I suspect that parts of the hotel are in greater need of remodeling than others. Indeed, I thought the courtyard and pool area were actually really nice.

quote:

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Originally posted by gliderpilotuk:
Unfortunately we both encountered the rude behaviour of the "handler". It is unacceptable for people to butt into someone else's conversation with an astronaut (for whom one has stood in line), just to prove their importance. Manners cost nothing.

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posted 11-20-2008 04:18 AM               

I was in the 500 block, the room was superb,very quiet and the service generally excellent. The pink paint was synonomous with the environement and, in my opinion, the deal was excellent value. I heard no complaints but there was an element of refurbishing in one area which may have affected some rooms.

I sympathise with gliderpilotuk somewhat on the question of handling 16"x20" photos at these signings. With many hundreds of my own I have experienced such problems in the past but the organisers always have a problem with space.