Apollo 13

   

The lecture with the Apollo 13 team was AWESOME!!!
Love,
Love,
LOVED it!

Really there is no way to put into words how cool it was, ya had to be there.
But I'm going to try.
                   

             

I LOVE the National Air and Space Museum. The perfect place for a perfect lecture.
( please know. snicker. I always use the word LOVE very carefully. I rarely use it unless I feel it intensely. But I am using the word perfect rather loosely. I don't care so much for that word myself. It's not who we are or what we do. It wasn't perfect. Sarah and Jacob were not along because we only had 4 tickets. See? Not perfect. But, had they actually been along? Still not perfect. chuckle. Because really. How perfect could a lecture be with an almost 5 year old little boy?! And, normally a trip to D.C. can take less than 2 hours...it took closer to 3 and I got real car sick in the van. We always have the requisite bickering too ~ usually in, but not limited to, the back seats.      But the place was perfect. )

                                             

I experienced something strange and completely unfamiliar almost immediately after we arrived. We got our tickets, found our seats and that's when it started.

Weird.

You know that I have always loved the planets! the astronauts! the space program!

But I felt...laid back, mild and calm...



In comparison to the many people around us who were rather pleasantly n.u.t.s. and so knowledgeable about it all!

Seriously.

We sat next to a super-nice gentleman named Mr. Mark. He knew about all things NASA. He has actually
eyewitnessed over 40 launches from Cape Canaveral in FL, as well as some shuttle landings in California. He even recognized Bill Anders of Apollo 8, (the first manned orbit of the moon) waiting outside the museum just prior to the doors opening for the event.

I don't recognize people like that.

Mr Mark approached him and asked what he's doing waiting outside!

Bill Anders had stepped out of the museum briefly, only to find that he was locked out and security didn't recognize him. So Mark queried as to why in the world he didn't call or text his colleagues just inside?!

But, Mr. Anders said that he was fine, thank you, just waiting. He'd get back in eventually.

Unbelievable.

Somebody in 2010 choosing not to call or text and being content with "eventually."Amazing. Refreshing. And so yesterday.
I LOVE that!

           
            ( ahem. nice purse and jacket there that The Farmer is holding. how cute. )

The lecture itself was a panel discussion with Apollo 13's mission commander Jim Lovell, lunar module pilot Fred Haise, Apollo 16 command pilot Ken Mattingly and lead mission controller Gene Kranz.

It was the real history from the men who lived it!

"Intended to be the third lunar landing on the moon, Apollo 13's flight plan changed dramatically when an explosion on board the service module forced them to abandon the lunar landing. The dramatic rescue plan and quick thinking fixes to life-threatening challenges that brought the three astronauts safely back to earth made Apollo 13 famous as a successful failure."

                    
                     ( the close up snapshots were shared by Mr.Mark)
                      

             Note...that Jack Swigert replaced Ken Mattingly just days before Apollo 13's launch because of Ken's exposure to the measles. Jack died of cancer in 1982. Mattingly first learned of the switch via his car radio. He went on to be the command module pilot of Apollo 16 as well as to fly on two space shuttle missions.
  

                                                       Jack Swigert
 
Did you know...that Apollo 13 launched at 1:13 pm...which is 13:13 military time?
                        ...that the explosion happened on April 13th ?
                       

 
                     "Failure is not an option."  ~ Gene Kranz

                       

Mr. Kranz was exactly how I pictured him to be. Exactly. The look, the voice, the mannerisms. And since I know so many Flight Directors, that makes sense, doesn't it?

                       


                            
Jim Lovell's book is a great read, btw.
You can borrow mine. I have two copies.
It was published under two different titles... and I didn't know that when I ordered them on Amazon.
And a little fyi to you and a note to self;  if you don't actually win tickets?
Go anyway. Learned that from a guy sitting behind us. He always gets in on "stand-by" status. oh.


We learned alot.

The Providence of God is all over this story...
regardless of who recognizes and acknowledges it.

And yours...
and mine...
too.

Perfect.
Love that.