 | Marisa Honomichl is Vice President of Marketing and Development at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson. The Cosmosphere houses one of the largest collections of space artifacts in the world including the Apollo 13 space capsule. The mission of the Cosmosphere is “Honoring the Past and Inspiring the Future of Space Exploration.” This is accomplished through educational programming such as space exploration camps for students in the summer. Feel free to contact the Cosmosphere for more information on their camps and programming at (800)397-0330 or visit www.cosmo.org. |
Science
2009-06-01 10:29:00
How long has it been since man landed?
Answer: July 20th will mark the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission landing on the moon and Astronaut Neil Armstrong first stepping foot on the moon surface. It is a moment of time that has been relived so often on television and other media that even those of us who were not alive can clearly recollect it was “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”. With all that has happened in the last 40 years, what seems so unique about that moment compared to other memorable events is this: It was a positive, uplifting experience and it was relevant to all of mankind.
All of us can recollect moments in history that touched us deeply. Sadly many of those moments over the past 40 years have been tragedies. This moment, however, was far from tragic; it was epic, moving, inspiring and amazing all at once. It represented many different things to many different people and opened up so much possibility for the dreamers in all of us afraid to reach for those dreams. The result of many, many dreamers working together was unfolding right before our eyes. For those few minutes, the impossible seemed possible.
Even the Apollo astronauts had no idea just how large an impact this accomplishment would be for the world. Here in the U.S. they expected excitement and interest, but coming home they were quite shocked how people from all over the world felt connected in some way to this mission and saw it as an accomplishment not of a single nation but representing all of humanity. How many times in history have we been brought together like that?
This spring we received a copy of an e-mail sent to the Kansas Cosmosphere president from Alan Bean, former Apollo astronaut and now an accomplished painter. He was beginning work on a new painting to capture the Spirit of Apollo and wanted input on what we thought that would be? What a tough question! How do you put into words a moment that meant so many different things to so many different people? I’m looking forward to finding out what he decided to put into that piece, but it inspired an idea for us as well. To commemorate this 40th anniversary, wouldn’t it be great to have those who remember this moment share how it impacted them personally. What do they remember feeling? How did it impact their lives? We decided to post a blog where anyone could share their stories about this moment in history. We invite you to share your stories with the world at www.cosmo.org.
I’ve been lucky enough to hear the stories of many of the astronauts, engineers and technicians who played a part on those early space flights and I’m just as excited to hear the stories of everyday people. Maybe you can help us put into words what the Spirit of Apollo truly was and we can all relive a glorious moment in history. Thanks in advance for your stories!
