Moon Landing

Travel Tidbits to blast off into a new week

Courtesy Roswell Museum and Art Center

October 5 marks the birthday of Robert Hutchings Goddard, known as the “Father of Modern Rocketry.”

It started in a cherry tree

In October 1899, a 17-year-old Goddard climbed a cherry tree in Central Massachusetts armed with a saw and a hatchet so he could cut off some dead tree limbs.

“It was one of the quiet, colorful afternoons of sheer beauty which we have in October in New England,” Goddard later wrote, “And as I looked towards the fields at the east, I imagined how wonderful it would be to make some device which had even the possibility of ascending to Mars.”

People thought he was crazy, but he pressed on with his ideas and received his first two rocket-related patents in 1914.

That was just the beginning.

Here’s NASA’s list of just some of Goddard’s later contributions to missilery and space flight 

  • Explored the practicality of using rocket propulsion to reach high altitudes, even the moon (1912)
  • Proved that a rocket will work in a vacuum, that it needs no air to push against
  • Developed and fired a liquid fuel rocket (March 16, 1926, Auburn, Mass.)
  • Shot a scientific payload in a rocket flight (1929, Auburn, Mass.)
  • Used vanes in the rocket motor blast for guidance (1932, New Mexico)
  • Developed gyro control apparatus for rocket flight (1932, New Mexico)
  • Received U.S. patent for of multi-stage rocket (1914)
  • Developed pumps suitable for rocket fuels
  • Launched a rocket with a motor pivoted on gimbals under the influence of a gyro mechanism (1937)

Long after he died, Goddard did get to the moon. Sort of.

When Buzz Aldrin went to the Moon on Apollo 11 in 1969, he took along two tiny, credit card sized copies of Goddard’s autobiography.

These were the first books flown to the moon and one copy now resides in a vault at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Goddard was born in Worcester; was both a student and an instructor at Clark University; and is buried in Worcester.

Courtesy Clark University

In 1966, a time capsule with a great deal of Goddard memorabilia, including eight of Goddard’s patents and letters between Goddard and science-fiction writer H.G. Wells, was placed in the concrete floor of the Goddard Library at Clark University to be opened in 2466.

The time capsule also contains a long list of “Space Age” material, including packets of space food from NASA (tuna fish, bacon strips, banana pudding, coconut squares, beef sandwiches, cereal cubes and chicken bites) and “Items Representing Contemporary Life” from 1966, including tranquilizer pills, a miniskirt, a Beatles Record, a package of filter-tip cigarettes and copy of Playboy.

Museum Monday – Cars, Guitars, Espresso & the Moon Landing 

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Courtesy SFO Museum

Here at StuckatTheAirport.com we’re big fans of the Philadelphia International Airport, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, San Francisco International Airport and the many other airports which have robust exhibition programs or their very own museums.

Of course, we’re big fans of museum exhibitions outside of airports too.

Three we’ve spotted that may be worth planning trips, or side-trips, around, are at America’s Car Museum (ACM) in Tacoma, WA, the Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA) and the National Air & Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

 See the USA in your Chevrolet

1960 Chevrolet Corvette – Courtesy ACM

In Tacoma, WA, America’s Car Museum (ACM) is celebrating summer driving with a display of classic Chevrolet cars in the Route 66 exhibit showcasing vehicles that traveled the Mother Road during the golden age of American motoring.

The “See the USA in Your Chevrolet” display runs through October 14, 2019 and includes a 1960 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible and almost a dozen other great examples of early Chevys ranging from a 1919 Chevrolet FB Baby Grand Touring Sedan to a 1972 Chevrolet El Camino Pickup.

Espresso and Iconic Guitars


MIRAGE TRIPLETTE, KEES VAN DER WESTEN, 2001

Through June 15, the Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA) is hosting Passione Italiana, a perky exhibition chronicling the evolution of the espresso machine.

On view are Italian espresso makers, inventive coffee sets and unique crockery from the mid-twentieth century to today.

From June 29 to September 29, MODA’s featured exhibition will focus on guitar design and construction, with a great line-up of guitars played by performers such as Bo Diddley, Jack White, St. Vincent and others.

Visitors will first see guitars in their most minimal form and be asked to consider how simple and traditional design elements such as the shape of an instrument and the species of wood affect the sound.

The exhibition will then take visitors through advancements in the craft of making string instruments (luthiery) and share stories of how some of the 20th century’s most famous guitars came to their honored status.

Guitars scheduled to be on view include:

Junior Brown’s Custom Guit-Steel, Bo Diddley’s Gretsch 6138, Jack White’s Diddley Bow (from It Might Get Loud), Buck Owens’ Harmony Acoustic, Rich Robinson’s Scala Telecaster, Derek Trucks’ Gibson SG and St. Vincent’s Signature Ernie Ball Music Man

Wire & Wood: Designing Iconic Guitars will be on view at the Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA) beginning June 29.

Out of this world: Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing

Lunar spacesuit worn by Neil Armstrong on Apollo 11 mission showing the reflection in the face shield (NASM photo by Jim Preston)

While we’re talking about museum exhibits worth planning a trip around, keep in mind that in July the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing with a five-day celebration at the museum and on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

The celebration will stretch from July 16 – exactly 50 years from the launch of Apollo 11 – to July 20, the day Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took the first steps on the moon.

A wide range of educational and commemorative activities are on the schedule, but perhaps most noteworthy is the fact that Neil Armstrong’s Apollo 11 spacesuit will go on display July 16 for the first time in 13 years.  Look for it near the 1903 Wright Flyer.

Museum Monday: Cars, Guitars, Espresso and the Moon Landing is made possible by Deem – your most powerful solution for booking and managing corporation travel online.

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49th anniversary of the Moon landing

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon 49 years ago this weekend – on July 20, 1969 – so let’s take a walk back through history with some of the photos and artifacts from that event, courtesy of NASA and the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air & Space Museum.

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin walking on the surface of the Moon – courtesy NASA

 

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin with the United States flag during an Apollo 11 Extravehicular Activity (EVA) on the lunar surface.  Courtesy NASA

President Richard M. Nixon was on hand in the central Pacific recovery area to welcome the Apollo 11 astronauts (left to right) – Neil A. Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin – aboard the U.S.S. Hornet.  The astronauts were confined in a Mobile Quarantine Facility (MQF) for 21 days after splashdown on July 24, 1969.  Courtesy NASA.

Souvenirs from space: This Apollo Lunar Sample Return Container (ALSRC) was used to preserve a lunar-like vacuum around samples taken from the Moon and brought back to earth.  Courtesy NASA and Smithsonian Institution National Air & Space Museum.

Interested in seeming more snaps from the Moon landing? NASA and the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum have images from the collection here. 

We travel the Spaceways

I’ve got my eyes on the skies this week for the 40th anniversary of the moon landing and the first steps on the moon.

Sadly, I won’t be able to make it Wapakoneta, Ohio to see the World’s Largest Moon Pie

Wapakoneta - Moon Pie Mock up

But at least I’ll be in Seattle on August 15th when the EMP (Experience Music Project) kicks off its newest exhibition:    Spaced Out! The Final Frontier in Album Covers

EMP FROM ANOTHER WORLD

117 space-themed record album covers released between 1940 and 1969—the dawn of the space age— will be display.

Here are some more cool samples:

EMP MEL TORME

EMP SPUTNIK DANCE

The exhibition will be on view at the EMP through Jan. 3, 2010.