45 Years Ago Today....

This picture was taken at Disneyland exactly 45 years ago today.....

From the Official Disney Blog

All of these people were crowded into Tomorrowland to witness man's first steps on another world. Walt Disney had helped pave the way for this moment with his Man in Space series of programs that featured such greats as Werner von Braun and Willy Ley, so it was perfectly fitting that his park would feature the historic event. Of course, the rest of the world was watching as well.

I can remember as a child of six, watching it with my parents in Denison, Tx. We were at the Garber's house (Henry Garber was the pastor of our church, and since my father was the church's minister of music and youth, they were good family friends) and had hamburgers. The black and white picture on the tv was somewhat static prone, but to my six year old eyes it could have been in Technicolor and 3D! I had a real sense that I was watching history.

As we left their house that night, I looked up at the moon. The knowledge that there were men there...right at that very moment...filled me with awe. I guess that feeling has never really gone away.

That is why each year for the past five years I have volunteered at the DARS booth at Moon Day. Frontiers of Flight Museum (Home of Apollo 7!) puts on the event each year on the Saturday that is closest to the Apollo 11 mission date. Various science, space, and technology groups take part in the celebration in order to hopefully rekindle the spirit that took us away from our planet all those years ago.

This year the DARS booth featured over 50 rockets, ranging in size from four inches long to over 10 feet tall. In addition to myself, DARS members Jack and Suzie Sprague, John Dyer, Scott Cook, John and Melanie Kneen, their kids Hannah and Michael and Hannah's friend Tori were all there and helped out TONS. (Jack helped set up and tear down, but he had to cover the launch in between times) We had a building session for kids where 14 eager new club members built their first Alpha III's. All in all we saw hundreds of enthused space lovers and met tons of great people!

The DARS booth

One of the free giveaways I picked up was a pinback button with a simple message: Carpe Lunam. I think that sums up the day quite nicely. We should never forget to look toward the moon and remember that we were there....and we can be again...

Until next time, fly 'em fast and high!