Michelle Rouch, IAAA member Art Exhibit
Tucson, AZ, June 2-5, 2011 -- Astronauts landed in the Sonoran desert for Spacefest III at the Starr Pass Resort, a remote area nestled within the Tucson Mountains. Spacefest III gathered one of the largest populations of Apollo astronauts, autographing books, photos, and artifacts, as wells as offered key note speakers and renown astronomical artists. There was at least one astronaut from Apollo 7 to Apollo 17, and 6 of the 12 men who walked on the moon. Our American heroes (mostly with engineering degrees) attended the event.
Buzz Aldrin, Apollo 11, second man on the
moon
Alan Bean, Apollo 12, fourth man on the moon
Gene Cernan, Gemini 9, Apollo 10 & 17, last man on the moon
Charlie Duke, Apollo 16
Walt Cunningham, Apollo7
Richard Gordon, Gemini 11 and Apollo 12
Fred Haise, Apollo 13
Jim Lovell, Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8, and Apollo 13
Jack Lousma, slated for Apollo 20 but the program was cancelled,
later commanded STS-3 Space Shuttle Columbia
Bruce McCandless, first un-tethered, free flight using the
Manned Maneuvering Unit
Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14
Rusty Schweickart, Apollo 9
David Scott, Apollo 15, first lunar scientific explorer
Rick Searfoss, STS-58, STS-76, and STS-90
Tom Stafford, Gemini 9 and Apollo 10
Charlie Walker, STS-41, STS-51, and STS-61
Paul Weitz, Skylab 2 and STS-6
Al Worden, Apollo 15
and Ed Gibson, Skylab 4
Astronauts and Aiglon College Students
One of the highlights of the event was the presence of twelve school boys from the Swiss Boarding School, Aiglon College, Switzerland. The dozen aspiring astronauts from 10 different countries were escorted by Christopher Starr and John Turner.
Mark Larson, Chairman of the Board of the San Diego Air & Space Museum and voice heard over 2,000 radio and TV worldwide, was the keynote speaker and Emcee for Saturday’s Banquet.
During the banquet, Gene Cernan reflected back on an interview from Discovery Channel asking General Tom Stafford, “What would you have done if Gene Cernan couldn’t come [back to the capsule]?” Gene Cernan announced to the crowd, “God Bless you, Tom! Thanks for waiting for me!” The audience responded with a standing ovation. Two of the Gemini 9 astronauts, Captain Eugene A. Cernan and Lieutenant General Thomas P. Stafford celebrated the 45th anniversary with the crowd. Gemini 9 launched on June 3, 1966 from a Titan-II rocket. The duration of the mission was approximately 72 hours long. During the EVA, Cernan encountered difficulties in maneuvering and Mission Controllers and Stafford concurred to cancel the rest of the EVA. Cernan lost 10 lbs in 2 hours.
Mark Larson offered a “What Now, What’s Next” speech. He asked for each of us to be ambassadors and contribute in working with our community. His prop, an American History school text book, California Edition alarmed the crowd in describing the political correctness documentation of space exploration coverage. Mark Larson added that if you add the amount of text in the entire book, space exploration covered approximately 2 pages. He added, “So What, What Now, What’s Next.” He reinforced that everything we sense here at Spacefest to become the ambassadors for our future generations. Last remarks, “Let’s never forget.”
Our American space exploration spans well over 50 years of research and development. We have emphasized over the years the importance of technology and education. However, if you ask anyone, “What has the space program done for them?” Many may not know how to answer. People are not aware of the benefits what the space program provided to the common household, increasing the quality of our lives. Spinoffs that we benefit are air quality monitors, virtual reality, baby food, water purification systems, scratch resistant lenses, pool purification, portable coolers and warmers, sports training, athletic shoes, dust buster, shock-absorbing helmets, home security systems, self-locking fasteners, smoke detectors, flat panel televisions, wireless communications, solar energy, high-density batteries, trash compactors, fire resistant material, food packaging freeze-dried technology, cooler sportswear, sports bras, hair styling appliances, radiation insulation, fogless ski goggles, self-adjusting sunglasses, composite golf clubs, hang gliders, art preservation, quartz crystal timing equipment, and on and on. The research and development funding for the Hubble Space Telescope created the Charge Coupled Device (CCD) chips that are used for digital imaging breast biopsies, as well as detecting the differences between a malignant or benign tumor without requiring a surgical biopsy. We need to invest in our future. One organization, the W Foundation, preserves the past by promoting the future. As Mark Larson said it, “Let’s never forget.”
