By Karen Bloom
Those who worked on the Lunar Module will enjoy a reunion on Saturday, celebrating the launch of the Apollo XI mission, where they will have an opportunity to reconnect with each other and be honored by museum visitors."The human race accomplished its single greatest technological achievement of all time when man first set foot on another celestial body," said Claudia Oakes, Cradle of Aviation Museum's Chief Operating Officer. "Every family on Long Island was either directly involved in NASA related work or personally knew someone who was involved in the space race. This day will always be a moment in pride for all Long Islanders.""There are many people who need to be honored, who took part in this achievement," she added. "These old friends are coming from all over the country to be here for this occasion."The celebration actually begins Friday morning at precisely 9:32 a.m., with a "rocket launch" in the Museum's main atrium. The actual launch at that moment 35 years earlier will be reenacted with 10-second countdown and stomp rocket launch of some 20 rockets by children attending the Museum's space camp. Then all in attendance will salute the astronauts and their mission with a "Tang toast."The following day, at the main event, museum visitors will have an opportunity to meet and greet such "lunar celebrities" as Joe Gavon, former Grumman president/COO, who served as Lunar Module director, and Apollo XIII astronaut Fred Haise, who was a member of Apollo XI's backup crew."I feel very lucky to have been a part of the Apollo program, it was the premier engineering and exploration success of the 20th Century," Haise declared. "We astronauts were not the stars of the program, we were just members of an incredible four thousand man team that made the dream of Apollo a reality."Some of that "dream team" will be on hand Saturday, with their families, sharing their reminiscences, during an afternoon of activities. "It's a time to celebrate Long Island's pivotal role in space exploration. Come see these fathers and grandfathers when they take their bows," said Oakes.
Cradle of Aviation Museum Celebrates Apollo XI
Saturday, July 17th, noon-4 p.m. Charles Lindbergh Blvd., Garden City. (516) 572-4111 or www.cradleofaviation.org.
