posted 02-24-2009 11:06 AM               

Leon

posted 02-24-2009 11:49 AM               

Charlie Duke's team won, but only by a stroke. Lousma jokingly said Charlie's team dilly-dallied on the 18th hole until it was dark, then Jack's team couldn't see the cup!

Cernan's team came in last, as Gene bogied the final hole. Everyone who golfed had a blast, and considered it the high point of Spacefest.

The event garnered heavy news coverage, however. See HERE for the best one.

We made extra merchandise including sweat-wicking premium golf shirts, ball washers, divot tools, 12-can cooler bags, golf towels, balls, patches and golf caps with the Moonwalker Invitational logo. They'll be on the NOVASPACE website soon.

posted 02-24-2009 01:39 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by ejectr:
One more time... anyone go golfing?

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posted 02-24-2009 02:35 PM            

Chris & Paul Calle are two of the friendliest people you can ever meet. We picked up "First Step" and Chris had arranged to have Paul personalize it for my son Blake, which took place at Jack Lousma's table, as Charles Walker looked on and snapped a picture. Thanks guys!

Our mission this year was to have Gene Cernan annotate an A17 Moonpan. We acquired a surface flown page from his LM Systems Data manual and had asked him to make reference of that page on the photograph. After a brief conversation with my son and I, he addressed it to my son and wrote a beautiful inscription on the print. Gene Cernan is truly a class act, very genuine and sincere, certainly, one of the highlights of our weekend.

The opportunity to meet Michael Collins was another. I had explained to his wife Pat that we had obtained Michaels autograph through Novaspace a few years ago on my sons Saturn V rocket, and asked if he would take a moment to meet us and allow us to have a picture taken with him. They were both very gracious, and accommodating. I got the feeling that Collins really enjoyed being there and interacting with people.

The luncheon was also a memorable experience for us, as we were seated at Dr. Mitchell's table. In addition to sharing some stories from his journey to the moon, I had specific questions about remote viewing and apparitions which he was able to explain and tied into Quantum Holograms (which is a hypothesis for integrating into the scientific framework phenomena of consciousness which frequently have been considered beyond scientific description). By far, one of the most interesting people I have ever had the opportunity to share a Mexican lunch with!

Dining with Alan Bean was another fantastic experience. We were seated at his table for the banquet; he greeted us, and made us feel very comfortable. The night began with some laughs as Dick Gordon was presented with a book, as mentioned above. Alan Bean is really one of the nicest people that you could meet, friendly, soft spoken and very passionate about his work and involvement with NASA. After the table conversation turned away from politics, the remaining hour or so was dedicated to space flight and technology. It was the perfect way to end our vacation.

It was really great seeing many cSers, meeting new friends and getting reacquainted with others.

Thanks to Kim & Sally and everyone at Novaspace for making this event possible. Thanks to all of the astronauts and exhibitors who traveled to San Diego to make this a memorable experience for all who attended.

posted 02-24-2009 02:49 PM               

Kim and Sally and the whole Novaspace staff worked so hard to put this show on, and every aspect of the weekend reflected their dedication to putting on a great event. The food was terrific, the atmosphere was friendly and they looked like they had everything under control at every moment.

Catching up with friends from all over the world was one of the real highlights for me - Australia, the UK, and all over the USA.

Some of my favorite moments from this weekend in no particular order:

• Jim McDivitt told us that he thought this was the first time the 3 members of the Apollo 9 crew had been in the same room since 1972. 37 years is a mighty long time! I had many items with me from his collection that were flown on his Gemini 4 and Apollo 9 flights. He welcomed taking a photo with each item and told me that all the money he gets from the sale of his flown material goes right to charity. Jack Lousma said he donated his proceeds from the last Heritage sale he consigned material to as well. That is very classy of them to do that.

• Pat Collins - What can be said about this special lady? She was so patient and friendly with each person waiting on line. Mike was a true gentleman to me but Pat made me literally feel like family. She made a point to get my name early on in the weekend and would always give me a big hello whenever she saw me. A member of the 1st wives club is special for just that fact alone, but she really impressed me this weekend with how she went above and beyond to make sure each person that was waiting in line was appreciated in some way. I had two vintage photos of her during A11 to sign for me, one with Jan Armstrong that she had never before seen, so I let her keep that one. She gave me more thank you's than I could count.

• Wally Schirra was missed for sure. And he got a good mention at the banquet thanks to the host and Buzz Aldrin. I was hoping someone would mention Wally and was pleased when they did, in the manner they did. Also at the dinner, it was nice to see Robert get such a nice introduction and surprise. Rob, I have some photos of you on stage if you would like them as I was sitting very close by.

• Gene Cernan no longer wants to hear that we appreciate him coming to these shows. He expressed to me that it is the exact reverse. He is honored to shake hands with fans, answer questions and be at these shows. He appreciates us coming and paying for his signature as much as we appreciate him coming and being the vibrant person that he is. I brought something from his collection flown on Gemini 9 and I told him it was cherished and proudly displayed in my glass case at home. He looked up and told me he was pleased to hear that because it was better with me, than tucked away somewhere and forgotten with him.

• The San Diego Air and Space Museum is a fantastic venue. The museum is a lot of fun to walk through and they made a dream of mine come true. I was standing just feet away when the plastic cover on the hatch was taken off and I was able to poke my head in and take some really great photos INSIDE the CM. It smelled like 1969 in there and it was something I won't soon forget.

• Dick Gordon and Al Bean still act like crewmates. It's refreshing to see and a nice flashback. Dick said that if Pete Conrad were still alive, he would absolutely attend these shows and would love meeting collectors to sign space stuff.

• As Rob said in his earlier post, I now know to never buy a tie at a museum gift shop and assume you are the only one to have bought it.

I call it "A Man and His Ship". I hope you enjoy it as much as I do and would be glad to send it in larger format attachment if anyone wants a copy.

posted 02-24-2009 03:08 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by 4allmankind:
I call it "A Man and His Ship". I hope you enjoy it as much as I do and would be glad to send it in attachment if anyone wants a copy.

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I'd love to have a hi-res attachment for here at the Museum. I'll drop you an e-mail. Thanks!

posted 02-24-2009 03:35 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by 4allmankind:
I call it "A Man and His Ship".

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posted 02-24-2009 03:40 PM            

Andrew Chaikin, Francis French and Colin Burgess all signing books at the Museum table.

Colin Burgess and Francis French giving a talk about Yuri Gagarin and Ted Freeman.

Francis French and Colin Burgess signing books.

Gene Cernan tries to steal Dick Gordon's book.

posted 02-24-2009 04:38 PM               

The portrait Buzz Aldrin is signing, nor any of the images around the base of this art piece, is a photograph. They were all paintings.

Michael Collins signing a 16x20 print.

posted 02-24-2009 05:42 PM            

Very much enjoyed Robert's talk on collecting the new space programs, not least of all thanks to all the nifty stuff handed out! Thanks, guy!

posted 02-25-2009 07:53 AM               

Here's hoping for 2011!

posted 02-25-2009 01:06 PM               

I had all too litle time to stay, but it was a special pleasure to finally meet Al Hallonquist, who's always been a mentor and friend to me and other collectors, and to tell Robert how valuable he is as our hobby's "New York Times."

Finally, I'd like to nominate Pat Collins for the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

posted 02-25-2009 01:40 PM               

Anybody has a picture of Mike and Pat Collins that he/she can share with us?

Thanks,

posted 02-25-2009 03:26 PM               

It is really great to just get together and meet everyone in person and share stories.

I just can't believe how many new stories I hear from Gen Cardenas everytime I meet him. He kept our attention throughout the weekend.

This is the first time I spent any time with Rick Searfoss too and I really got a huge kick out of talking to him about his new projects.

I really only had one big letdown. This was the first time at one of these events where I really missed Wally. Everyone I spoke to felt the same.

Just the same, the weekend was filled with a lot of smiles and a lot of laughs. We can all thank Kim for putting those smiles on our faces.

Thanks Kim.

------------------
Kind Regards

Douglas Henry

posted 02-25-2009 05:54 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by 4allmankind:
Jim McDivitt told us that he thought this was the first time the 3 members of the Apollo 9 crew had been in the same room since 1972.

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posted 02-25-2009 06:49 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Mike Isbell:
20 of the Apollo astronauts, including 10 of the then living astronauts that had been to the moon (Jack Schmitt was not present) were at the White House with President Clinton to celebrate the anniversary.

---

posted 02-25-2009 09:36 PM               

But I decided to attend as it would give me the opportunity to meet Colin and Francis since Colin picked me to write one of the "Outward Odyssey" books for University of Nebraska Press. It would also get me the opportunity to meet some astronauts who had a hand in the MOL, Skylab, Spacelab and ISS programs to potentially schedule interviews for later dates in regards to the book.

To that end, I was more then happy with what I came away with. A good friend in San Diego was gracious enough to host me at his house and we had a good time together. On Thursday, we dropped by in the evening to get our convention badges and decided to volunteer our time (his helping with room setup, myself with volunteering for introductions and acting as a liason during several of the talks on Friday). Sally was happy to take what help she could get since some volunteers were unable to make it out this year.

So on Friday, I was thrown in as the guy giving introductions in one of the rooms and helping them and other speakers load their presentations onto the hotel provided laptop (or helping to integrate their own laptops into the system). So I introduced Ed Buckbee, Carolyn Shoemaker, Gavin Schmitt, Mike Cassutt, Andrew Chaikin and the two guys that had to give the "Oh *&^% we have to go after Andy Chaikin," talk, Colin Burgess and Francis French.

The Buckbee bit was fun as I was pondering introducing him by saying "I met Ed many years ago, and the first thing he said to me was 'Congratulations, here's your Space Camp Diploma'!" But I didn't. Although I did introduce him as "Doctor" Ed Buckbee and he corrected me. So I made a pact that whenever we meet, I have to say "Doctor" with my fingers around my head in quotations. We first met up at the show on Thursday as the pair of us went up to the talks room to get squared away for Friday. Ed was there bright and early on Friday, getting his PC up and running. There were a couple minor snags with the presentation, which frustrated Ed a little. But he did carry on reasonably well. At least the opening movie and the Geno moon talk bits went well.

Carolyn Shoemaker is a most gracious lady, kind of like a grandmother I wish I had. She remembered my assistance on day one when I rushed out to request an AV tech come in to get the PC running. Mike Jonas, the head speaker coordinator complimented me on how fast I got a tech there as they were working when I got back from the office. I also got to buy Carolyn Porco a cup of coffee that day as well as she sat in on the Shoemaker talk and Gavin Schmitt's. I will say that Carolyn Porco has a fire in her like that of Chris Kraft, which has come in handy with her dealings with JPL.

The astronauts and guests that I did get autographs from were most gracious and willing to share stories. I also had a chance to chat with Jack Lousma for a bit on Saturday as he gave me a nice story about what really happened during STS-3's landing as to how hairy it really was. Seeing Michael Collins on Saturday was a pleasant surprise and I did ask one of the Novaspace guys if I could shake his hand, to which they replied "Sure, if he lets you". I did ask and Michael did so. When I mentioned I was from Omaha, NE, he replied "Isn't that up by the North Pole somewhere?" I can tell he probably visited the state during one of our more notorious winters some time in the past.

I did pass Buzz in the hall on Saturday as he came up for his talk. I said "Hey Buzz" to which he replied "Hello". So he is polite at least. I sure as heck didn't try to get an autograph from him, although I did want to compliment him on his appearance in VH1's "Best Year Ever" a couple years back.

I didn't attend the luncheon (too poor), but I did attend the movie premiere and the banquet. Mark Gray's new film is great and I am glad he did it. It answered a lot of questions for me about the challenges in getting images back from the moon and the innovative steps used in getting color footage back. I plan to be first in line to get the DVD when it becomes available as it is perfect for any lunar reference library.

The banquet was a lot of fun as I was sitting at Ed Buckbee's table along with a couple other Space Camp alums. One person to my right actually attended the same year I did and we compared notes for a few minutes. It was nice to see the cross section of people at the table as all are great people and all have helped to try and pass on their love of spaceflight to others. I had heard rumors of a couple individuals at other tables trying to solicit autographs from the guests at the banquet. BAD idea IMHO. I never saw it in person though. As for Jerry Doyle's talk, I can understand how it could be polarizing, but I did get the jist of the point he was trying to make (i.e. we don't have it bad these days and it is individuals who do great things that can make this country great again). I found it interesting how different people took away different things from it. The end note, a supposed "P.S." from Barak Obama had practically the entire floor laughing though. I did manage to shake hands with both Cernan and Duke at the dinner and a rather enterprising fellow attendee managed to shoot a really good candid shot of me speaking to Cernan. His timing was excellent as I think my conversation with Cernan lasted only about 30 seconds, if that!

Sunday was slow, but still fun. I got to chat with Dick Gordon and we talked about NASCAR and other things (he is a fan and the REAL father of Jeff Gordon, nudge nudge, wink wink). Searfoss and Walker were great guys to talk with as we compared notes on mutual friends and acquaintances. I also got a chance to chat with Al Bean about a possible project and General Cardenas about various subjects. Unfortunately I didn't have a chance to purchase Steve Pisanos' book (I will though, he's a great guy). I also chatted with Richard Hatch and Levar Burton on Saturday (Richard I met before, Levar I had not).

The last major event of the day was Robert Pearlman's talk on the Constellation program and it was a good one. It started late due to some minor confusion about the room. But it went well as there was some rather fun audience participation involved. I even gave up one of my Ares 1 collectibles to allow another collectSPACEer have a unique piece for his collection.

In the end, I helped with the tear down and pack up. Sally gave me a T-shirt and a free lunch ticket and I helped the team out where I could. I also helped Paul and Mike Calle with the packing up of their artwork. My last two purchases at the show were a couple mini pieces of artwork, fully framed. One is Kim's famous "Morning Launch" and the other one was a painting of Leonardo Da Vinci holding a miniature space shuttle. To a model maker like me, these will look good in my room.

posted 02-26-2009 12:48 AM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by Moonwalker1954:
Anybody has a picture of Mike and Pat Collins that he/she can share with us?

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posted 02-26-2009 12:57 AM               

Another magic moment for me was when Mike Collins told my co-writer Francis French that he had read and greatly enjoyed our book, "In the Shadow of the Moon." Certainly nice words to hear from the man unanimously regarded as the best-ever astronaut author.

posted 02-26-2009 12:34 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by garymilgrom:
Jay can you repeat Lousma's story about the STS-3 landing? I've heard various reports on that are universally critical of his performance. What really happened?

---

He thought this was entirely unfair because there is just no time to get used to the feel of the orbiter. He didn't mention anything specific about Lousma's performance, but I thought it related to this question.

------------------
Kind Regards

Douglas Henry

posted 02-26-2009 01:30 PM               

Gypsum dust so fouled all the RCS thrusters, they all had to be replaced.

The wind was howling so much that the 1/2 mile line of porta-potties had the man/woman first in line bracing the toilets against the wind for the person inside, lest it blow over ON THE DOOR! I always wondered what happened to the last in line...

On the ride home to Tucson, I saw many remnants of RV's blown to bits by the winds.

They say Jack came down too hard on the nose gear, but given the conditions, landing into the 60 MPH+ wind, he was lucky the thing didn't get airborne again or flip over on its back.

posted 02-26-2009 03:16 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by Jay Chladek:
I even gave up one of my Ares 1 collectibles to allow another collectSPACEer have a unique piece for his collection.

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posted 02-26-2009 05:32 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by Spacefest:
They say Jack came down too hard on the nose gear, but given the conditions, landing into the 60 MPH+ wind, he was lucky the thing didn't get airborne again or flip over on its back.

---

I guess there are some advantages of piloting a flying brick.

posted 02-26-2009 08:24 PM            

I arrived in San Diego on Wednesday evening and after obtaining a rental car and having a meal at McDonalds, I drove up to Los Angeles and spent the night up there. For a Easterner it was quite different to be driving between two cities in California.

Upon going out of the motel on Thursday I saw a breathtaking view of the San Bernardino mountains caped with snow. I took a few pictures of the mountain range with my 35mm camera.

I visited the Museum of Science in Los Angeles and saw the MR-2 Mercury spacecraft, the Gemini 11 spacecraft and the Apollo-Soyuz spacecraft. Also on display was spacesuit that Ken Mattingly wore on Apollo 16.

Upon leaving Los Angeles I drove to Laguna Beach and drove along the the South Coast Highway until I reached the turnoff to Laguna Niguel. This was a view that was right out of movie sceans.

I visited my former neighbors who are now living in Laguna Niguel. I then headed back to US 5 and south to San Diego.

On Friday I got up early in order to be near the front of what I had been told would be a long line of people to have an item signed by Michael Collins. When the doors were opened to the general public at 9:00 AM there was a line behind where I was standing but, actually not as long as I imagined. I also got to meet some fellow cs members as I waited in line.

I had my Apollo 11 crew portrait signed my Gen. Collins. This was the primary goal of my trip to attend the Spacefest.

I talked with Vance Brand and mentioned the snow capped San Bernardino mountains backdroping Los Angeles. Mr. Brand, who currently lives not far north of LA, said the the peaks remain snow capped for only a brief period of time during the winter.

I talked with Jack Lousma about some political issues (he ran for the US Senate in 1984) and about the new book 'Homesteading Space' that all of the living Skylab astronauts helped Drs. kerwin and Garriott with.

I talked with Alan Bean about his new books that are schedualed to be published in May and in July. He told be that he was planing to be in Washington, DC in July for a book signing. I'll certainly be looking forward to seeing him then.

I asked Jim McDivitt if he minded if I tried to take a picture that included the three members of the Apollo 9 crew and replied 'go right ahead'. I don't know how well the picture is going to come out, but it is not one that a person has many opportunities to take.

I had my book 'The Space Shuttle: The First 20 Years' signed by Richard Searfoss. The number of signitures that I now have on the book is getting up there.

I left the Spacefest at around 11:30 AM in order to be able to stop by the San Diego Air & Space Museum and see the Apollo 9 CM on display there. Also on display was the spacesuit worn by San Diego native William Anders on Apollo 8.

posted 02-26-2009 10:03 PM               

Lousma and STS-3 landing (Spacefest related).

I felt it would be better to post it there then here to keep this discussion on topic of Spacefest itself.

posted 02-27-2009 11:39 AM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by Jay Chladek:
As I understand it, Columbia got so much sand in it that supposedly some particles of sand still remained hidden in nooks and crannies long after STS-3. I don't know if I entirely believe that, but I can understand it if some did get found in spots during her various OMDP refits.

---

I'm a southwest native, 57 years old. and I have never been in such a vicious sandstorm.

It wouldn't surprise me if Columbia had sand in the nooks and crannies.

You can see the hairy landing of the STS-3 mission and the wind effects.

Kim Poor

posted 02-27-2009 04:30 PM               

My wife Jackie and I arrived into San Diego the Monday before Spacefest  in a driving rain storm that was all over Southern California (it never rains in California, it pours). Our plan  would allow us to get to the California Science Center to view the command module (CM) for the Apollo Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) then up to Norton Sales in North Hollywood that Tuesday, on to the aircraft carrier Midway Wednesday, and for Thursday, the San Diego Air & Space Museum plus other stops along the way, with the Spacefest activities to follow.

We arrived at the California Science Center only to find that the Air and Space building was closed because the roof was leaking with all the rain from the day before. We did not take "closed" for an answer as one of the staff suggested contacting the information desk to see when it may reopen. We met Elizabeth at the information  desk and she began a series of phone calls once we told her that we had travelled from Georgia to see this ASTP exhibit (a great receptionist as she did not give up). She got in contact with the curator of the Air and Space building, Ken Phillips, who was in meetings for the next few hours, but he would be able to take us in the building to get a few photos later that day.  

We decided to drive up to Norton Sales while we waited and check out their wide inventory of space part leftovers. There we met Carlos the owner who took us on a tour of his warehouse as well as helped us pick up a couple of rocket parts (we came away with a valve from a rocket motor that had a Rocketdyne placard and a Saturn V valve with a rocket fuel label on it). In the main show room was a X-15 engine, a Lunar Module (LM) decent engine (without the fiberglass bell) and a Service Module  Engine (SME) without the bell. You can see them here in the photo of Carlos and I I'm the one on the right.  

We went back to the California Science Center and meet with Ken Philips who took us on our own guided tour of the Air and Space exhibits. He is a great guy with a great  love and knowledge for spaceflight. I believe he is a great plus for space history  and made sure he knew  all about cS when we were talking (Ken are you out there?). Here we are with the ASTP CM.

Tuesday behind us, we went on to the aircraft carrier Midway for Wednesday. The Midway has the distinction of performing "Operation Sandy" on September 6, 1947, where she successfully test fired a captured German V-2 rocket from her flight deck. Also there is a Sea King helicopter painted in the old 66 paint scheme on deck.

posted 02-27-2009 04:31 PM               

Friday started Spacefest and what an event, we arrived early and lined up outside for what would move inside as the line for Mike Collins and his signing table. What a super guy! As we made it up from around the corner they were having technical difficulty, so Mike got out of his chair came over to the line and started a conversation with those of us within ear shot, he is a great conversationalist and very down to home mannerisms, not what you would expect from the Command Module Pilot (CMP) from the first moon landing crew! We had him sign the base for the Code 3 model of the Apollo 11 CM but elected to skip getting Buzz to sign for we put that signing cash toward getting all of the Lunar Module Pilots (LMP) to sign a Grumman LM transparency booklet.

We moved around the room getting a number of other things signed. We had brought one of the  panels from our 1/48 scale Apollo full stack Revell kits and had the full crew of Apollo 9 sign it, after all they were the first crew to fly the Saturn V in the  "all up" configuration.  Al Bean and Jack Lousma signed our 1/144 scale  Skylab launch configuration model.

Al Crews signed the model of the Dyna-soar X-20 we brought as he was a pilot for that program and both Hank Hartsfield and Al Crew signed our Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) model we had as they were on that program at the tine it was cancelled. Al said he was just too old to roll into the NASA program at the time but Hank made it  "under the wire". They then went into a long discussion about those programs and how they had heard on the radio that it was cancelled while each of them were meeting with different suppliers on the project that day.

Spacefest is great! It was super to meet all the cS members there (good to put a face to a name Ray and Jonathan) All of the folks and astronauts enjoyed our pictorial tour of our home museum and wanted to know how much the tour would be. Once again as I said then "for you if you just show up, it's no charge".  We added signatures to the line drawing "Howdy" by Kim Poor and now we have all of the astronauts from the 2007 Spacefest, the 2008 ASF signing at KSC and Spacefest 2009 (glad I got Buzz on there in 2007!).

We meet with Chris and Paul Calle and went to their talk, it was great and insightful. Jackie and I have the Giclee of Paul's  "Power" and "Power To Go" at home and now we will be adding this picture of the four of us right under those reproductions.

posted 02-27-2009 04:32 PM               

What can we say about Robert's talk that has not been mentioned, it was wonderful, full of new information/videos  on the Constellation program and he had give-away items too. The space community has a star in Robert, my hat's off to you sir!

There is a ton of items and photos I could post but for now I leave you with this; I truly believe Mike Collins had a great time and was relaxed as seen here on Saturday afternoon just kicking back.

And all of the astros had a chance to get caught up with old friends.