The artwork depicts Apollo 15 astronaut Al Worden strode slowly on the gantry walkway at the top of the enormous Saturn V rocket as he is gazing at the ocean below.  

Michelle's Thoughts: During the initial design process, when Al Worden and Francis French suggested an idea of 3 astronauts walking on the gantry heading towards the capsule, I said sure! But little did I know how complex this was going to be.  This was another very difficult piece of artwork that I had to pull a rabbit out of a hat.  Since I had never seen a gantry in person, I knew this painting needed time to research to become familiar with the perspective, texture, layers, depth, and the ratio between the height of a person and the gantry.   While visiting Rocket City in July 2019, I was relieved to see a gantry in the museum, and I rushed over taking multiple pictures and roughly sketching three (3) figures. Once I returned home, the prototype design of the 3 astronauts came quickly, but the composition looked crowded and did not reflect the essence of Al's words.  Finally feeling confidence, I knew the illustration needed only one figure walking on the gantry.  Since there were so few images of Al Worden in his spacesuit, I had to recreate a figure in motion, holding a heavy environmental case while he slowly strode on the gantry and looked out to the ocean.  Nearly 80% of Al Worden's form came from my imagination.  It was important to me to keep the reader in mind and what the child would see, while the words are read out loud.  I am pleased with the results