Museum celebrates Hubble Space Telescope anniversary

Hubble Space Telescope exhibit at Space Walk of Fame Museum

NASA launched the Hubble Space Telescope from the Space Coast aboard Shuttle Discovery 25 years ago this week and has provided amazing cosmic images.

The U.S. Space Walk of Fame Museum has put together many Hubble items for a special exhibit, marking a quarter century of bringing us closer to deep space.

Also to celebrate the Hubble anniversary, our staff has gathered for display on a large-screen TV some of the stunning images Hubble has captured since 1990.

The Space Walk of Fame Museum in Titusville, Florida is dedicated to preserving the history of the U.S. space program and honor the men and women who made the space program possible.

Click here for directions to the museum.

Click here for more information about the museum.

Survivor of WWII torpedo attack that killed hundreds to visit monument for first time

SS Leopoldsville monument in Titusville, Florida

Steve Negrey

A World War II veteran who survived a torpedo attack that sunk his troop ship will finally visit a memorial in Titusville, Florida that recognizes the tragic event.

On Christmas Eve 1944, Private First Class Steve Negrey was aboard the SS Leopoldsville in the English Channel with about 2,000 other soldiers who were to be reinforcements for the Battle of the Bulge.

Many would never made it. Just off the coast of France,  a German U-Boat struck the Leopoldsville in the English Channel, killing 783 members of the 66th infantry division. 

Negrey was rescued, continued into combat and was later wounded, receiving the Purple Heart. 

In 1991, a circular memorial park was dedicated on the Titusville riverfront as a tribute to the members of the U.S. armed forces with monuments for 10 major conflicts from the the Revolutionary War to the first Gulf War.

In 2005, a monument dedicated to the American soldiers who lost their lives on the Leopoldsville was added to Veteran's Park, which is at the east end of Broad Street adjacent to Space View Park. The monument also names six Floridians who died in the attack.

The 94-year-old Negrey had heard about the Leopoldsville monument and spent years searching for its location. This weekend, with the help of book author Mark Cubbedge, the WWII vet will finally see the monument. 

At 11 a.m. Saturday, April 25, there will be a ceremony at Veteran's Park to honor Negrey and pay tribute to those who lost their lives. The public is invited to attend.

Click here for directions to Veteran's Park beside Space View Park on the Indian River in Titusville.

For more information, go to the Faces of Freedom page on Facebook

Museum welcomes military and hospitality workers next month

The U.S. Space Walk of Fame Museum will open its doors to show appreciation for two groups next month.

May will be Hospitality Appreciation Month at the downtown Titusville museum. Employees can show a hospitality industry ID to receive free admission. 

On Saturday, May 2, active and retired U.S. military personnel will receive free admission to the museum in conjunction with Space Coast Military Appreciation Day.

Museum adds art to space technology youth program

Students will learn about the influence of art on space exploration when a U.S. Space Walk of Fame educational program expands later this year.

The hands-on educational program for children ages 8 to 13 will be called STEAM Saturdays and begin in August at the Titusville, Florida museum.

In addition to art, there will also be sessions for the original four STEM program subjects of science, technology, engineering and math.

A STEAM patch has been designed for the program by KSC artist Tim Gagnon, who has worked on many mission patches for NASA.

During an upcoming art session, Gagnon will work with students as they design their own mission patch.

Program sessions are held once a month on Saturday. Planning for the next series is underway.

Space museum to honor longtime NASA executive George English

John Talone, left, talks with George English, former director of KSC's Executive Management Office, during the annual National Space Club Debus Award Banquet. (Photo credit: NASA Images)

George English, former director of Kennedy Space Center's Executive Management Office, will be the guest of honor at an appreciation luncheon on Monday, April 13, at U.S. Space Walk of Fame Museum, 308 Pine St. in Titusville, Fla.

More than 100 people attended the John Tribe Appreciation
Luncheon in February.

English was the executive officer for NASA at Kennedy Space Center for 30 years from 1964 to 1994. 

The event will begin at 11 a.m. at the U.S. Space Walk of Fame Museum, and lunch will served at St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church parish hall at noon. 

After lunch, the group will return to the museum for cake.

Tickets for the luncheon are $10 a person. For more information, call 321-264-0434.

Central Florida museum opens space food exhibit

Monuments honor nearly 4,000 space workers in Florida

Surrounding monuments to the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Shuttle programs are the engraved names of nearly 4,000 space workers who made manned spaceflight possible.

Most recently, 25 names were added in December and another group of up to 100 individuals will go on a pylon at the shuttle monument in April.

Click on the following monument links to see the names already on those monuments at Space View Park in Titusville, Florida: Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Shuttle. 

The Mercury Monument was dedicated in 1995, Gemini Monument in 1997,  Apollo Monument in 2007 and Shuttle Monument in 2014.

If you worked on any part of the Apollo, Gemini, Mercury or Shuttle programs, you can have your name engraved at the monument dedicated to the program you put so much hard work and effort into supporting. 

Friends and family members may also submit their loved ones for engraving. It makes a great gift.

To start the process of reserving an engraving to honor an individual's work that became a part of man's greatest achievements, click here.

Students explore space history with scavenger hunt

What color is John Glenn's hard hat?

Whose name is on the fire axe?

What are monkey treats made of?

Those are some of the questions children can try to answer during a visit to the U.S. Space Walk of Fame Museum in Central Florida.

Children ages 15 and younger are admitted free to the museum, which has developed scavenger hunt worksheets that lead to interesting and historic displays of manned space flight in the facility.

There are two versions of the scavenger hunt worksheet for elementary school students and older children with up to 32 questions designed introduce them to the beginnings of the U.S. space program. 

Ask for a scavenger hunt worksheet at the front desk as you enter the museum at 308 Pine St., Titusville, Florida. 

At the end of the visit, children participating in the scavenger hunt get a Space Walk of Fame aluminum coin.

Monument pays tribute to contributions to space program

Space community honors John Tribe

Museum offers free space memorabilia appraisals

Residents on the Space Coast can find out how much their space memorabilia is worth during a three-day event at the U.S. Space Walk of Fame Museum in Titusville, starting at Friday, Feb. 27.

Don Willis, who runs lunarlegacies.com that sells vintage space memorabilia, will conduct free space memorabilia appraisals from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday at the museum located at 308 Pine St. in Downtown Titusville.

Items of interest include pieces flown in space such as flags as well as spacecraft models, access badges, booklets, manuals, jackets and astronaut autographs from Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs.

Willis will pay cash for quality items or accept them for consignment for an online space memorabilia auction

For more information, call 321-264-0434.

National Space Club Florida Committee to unveil monument pylon

National Space Club Florida Committee pylon in Space View Park 

A monument to recognize individuals who have made significant contributions to and supported the future of America's space program will be officially unveiled this month in Titusville, Florida.

The National Space Club Florida Committee pylon in Space View Park is situated between monuments to the Apollo and Space Shuttle programs.

An event to dedicate the pylon will be at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 24, at the park in Downtown Titusville.

Bob Cabana, shuttle astronaut and current director of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, will be among the featured speakers. Cabana spent 38 days in space as the pilot on STS-41 and STS-53 and mission commander on STS-65 and STS-88. 

He was the 2013 recipient of the the Debus Award, which was created by the National Space Club Florida Committee to recognize significant achievements and contributions made in Florida to American aerospace efforts. The award is named for Kennedy Space Center's first director, Dr. Kurt Debus.

Other recipients of the Debus Award: Veteran NASA manager Bob Sieck, Rockwell Florida Operations vice president and general manager Lee Solid and U.S. congressman Bill Nelson, who flew aboard Shuttle Columbia in January 1986.

The National Space Club Florida Committee is one of three regional committees of the National Space Club in Washington, D.C. that promotes space exploration.


The hourlong ceremony at Space View Park is open to the public. For more information, call 321-264-0434.

John Tribe appreciation event Feb. 2

John Tribe, chief engineer of launch support services for the Space Shuttle program at Kennedy Space Center, will be the guest of honor at an appreciation luncheon on Monday, Feb. 23, at U.S. Space Walk of Fame Museum, 308 Pine St. in Titusville, Fla.

Tribe was an early Atlas pioneer, Rockwell leader for both the Apollo and Shuttle programs, and since his retirement, a strong supporter of the NASA/KSC Public Affairs operation, providing his skills and knowledge as a VIP tour guide.

The event will begin at 11 a.m. at the U.S. Space Walk of Fame Museum, and lunch will served at St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church parish hall at noon. After lunch, the group will return to the museum for cake.

Tickets for the luncheon are $10 a person. For more information, call 321-264-0434.

Astronaut encourages parents to involve children in STEM education opportunities

Astronaut Michael McCulley, who piloted Shuttle Atlantis in 1989, talks to students during a STEM Saturday workshop at the U.S. Space Walk of Fame Museum in Titusville, Florida. (Photo: Scott Gunnerson)

Long before Michael McCulley piloted Shuttle Atlantis, the astronaut was always curious about how things worked as he grew up in Tennessee.

 "I was always a tinkerer and took engines apart from the time I was a kid," said McCulley, who flew on STS-34 that deployed the Galileo spacecraft in October 1989.

He credits his high school teachers in math, physics and English for developing a desire to learn and a broad outlook for his natural curiosity.

Now, he is helping promote that same curiosity in his 11-year-old granddaughter, Addy, by encouraging her to participate in the U.S. Space Walk of Fame Museum's monthly STEM workshops for children ages 8 to 13.

Each month, students spend an afternoon in a fun, educational environment investigating and getting hands-on experience in either science, technology, engineering or math while solving space-age challenges.

McCulley, who joined the Navy after high school, was assigned to be a missile technician, a highly technical job that included work with nuclear weapons, hydraulics and computers.

"The kind of things I learned, particularly the technical things, the STEM kind of stuff that I had learned in high school, resulted in me doing really well on the exams that determine what job you get once you are in the Navy," said McCulley, who went on to earn a masters degree in Metallurgical Engineering from Purdue University.

He believes that the attention paid to STEM subjects in his teenage years was crucial to launching a career that ultimately lead to nearly five days in space.

"I did well because I had such a great basis coming out of high school," said McCulley, who later became president and CEO of NASA contractor United Space Alliance.

He believes that a STEM curriculum is just as important today to a well-rounded education and a successful career in any line of work.

"Everything can be tied to science and math," McCulley said. "The sciences are at the root of everything that happens. To survive in this world and do well in this world, you need to have some understanding of STEM subjects."

He had no problem getting Addy, one of 10 grandchildren, interested in the STEM workshop sessions at the Space Walk of Fame Museum in Titusville, Florida.

Students shake hands with Astronaut Michael McCulley.

"I presented her with the opportunity and she jumped on it," the proud grandfather said. "Addy has embraced it and enjoyed it. She has a better understanding of how things work, how things fit together. I believe it is going to prepare her better for the things she is going to run into in high school."

McCulley said he and his granddaughter now share a curiosity about how things work, and he recommends the STEM workshops to other parents.

"I would encourage any parent whose child even has the slightest interest in space or aerospace or engineering or things like that to attend," McCulley said

"It helps them develop, it helps them grow. If they are curious people to start with, it gives them an avenue to be curious about how things work."

(To find out more about STEM Saturday workshops at the U.S. Space Walk of Fame Museum in Titusville, Florida, call 321-264-0434.)

A Twitter look at the Dinner with the Astronauts

Brevard businessman donates $100,000 to space museum

Photo: Gail Hannas

Retired space worker and businessman Joe Williams made a huge donation to the US Space Walk of Fame and issued a challenge that could result in another $200,000 for the foundation that preserves space history.

Williams presented a $100,000 check to Space Walk of Fame president Charlie Mars on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015, during the annual Dinner with the Astronauts fundraiser at Suntree Country Club in Melbourne, Florida.

In addition, another $40,000 was raised at the event.

Williams, who was an engineer for several NASA contractors and has become an avid Space Walk of Fame supporter, also pledged to match other donations made this year up to $100,000. 

The Space Walk of Fame,  a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the history of the U.S. space program, was instrumental in the creation of the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Shuttle monuments in Space View Park and the Space Walk of Fame Museum in Titusville, Florida.

Car headlights still honor sacrifice of Challenger crew

Southbound vehicles on U.S. 1 in Titusville, Florida, have their headlights on during daylight on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2015, to honor the seven astronauts who died in the 1986 Shuttle Challenger accident. (Photo by Scott Gunnerson)

Motorists in Titusville, Florida, and other communities surrounding Kennedy Space Center drove in the daylight with their headlights on Wednesday as a tribute to the seven crew members who died aboard the Shuttle Challenger on Jan. 28, 1986.

It was a somber reminder of the day after the accident when practically every car's lights were beaming in what was described by South Florida newspaper reporter Neil Santaniello as an "eerie and unending funeral procession with no hearse in the lead."

Wednesday was also a Day of Remembrance for NASA to honor every individual who lost their life in the pursuit of space exploration.

"Today we remember and give thanks for the lives and contributions of those who gave all trying to push the boundaries of human achievement," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement.

"On this solemn occasion, we pause in our normal routines and remember the STS-107 Columbia crew; the STS-51L Challenger crew; the Apollo 1 crew; Mike Adams, the first in-flight fatality of the space program as he piloted the X-15 No. 3 on a research flight; and those lost in test flights and aeronautics research throughout our history."

Astronaut memorial service set for Jan. 31

Astronaut Jon McBride

Two astronauts, who each piloted space shuttle missions, will take part this month in a Titusville, Florida, memorial service for astronauts who lost their lives in space accidents.

The Astronaut Memorial Service will start at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 31, at Astronaut Memorial Plaza in Sand Point Park. The annual ceremony is held to remember the astronauts lost in Apollo, Challenger and Columbia accidents. 

Astronaut Jon McBride will be the event's master of ceremonies. McBride piloted space shuttle orbiter Challenger that launched Oct. 5, 1984, from Kennedy Space Center. 

The keynote speaker will be Astronaut Mike McCulley, who piloted space shuttle orbiter Atlantis that launched Oct. 18, 1989, from Kennedy Space Center.

The event is organized by Titusville's Flag and Memorial Committee and the U.S. Space Walk of Fame Museum, which will host an open house after the service at its facility, 308 Pine St. in Downtown Titusville.

11 astronauts to attend fundraising dinner

The U.S. Space Walk of Fame Museum will celebrate space history and the technical education of our students this month with its annual Dinner with the Astronauts.

Eleven former astronauts will join museum supporters on Thursday, Jan. 29, at Suntree Country Club in Melbourne, Florida, for the fundraising dinner.

Fred Haise

The NASA astronauts who have committed to attend the event:

• Andrew Allen, STS-46, STS-62 and STS 75.
• Wendy Laurence, STS-67
• Barbara Morgan, STS-118 Teacher in Space
• Fred Haise, Apollo 13, shuttle approach and landing tests
• Al Worden, Apollo 15
• Bob Crippen, STS-1, STS-7, STS-41-C and STS-41G
• Bob Springer, STS-29 and STS-38
• Mike McCulley, STS-34
• Jon McBride, STS-41G
• Winston Scott, STS-72 and STS-87
• Greg "Box" Johnson, STS-123 and STS-134

The mission of the museum is to honor the astronauts and workers who made space flight a reality, preserve U.S. space history and educate the global community about our U.S. space history.

Proceeds from the evening will benefit the museum and its goal to continue and expand its hands-on educational programs that serve local and international students.

Next month, museum's ongoing STEM Saturdays program will begin again with the first of four monthly sessions. The program for children ages 8 to 13 provides space-related activities in science, technology, engineering and math.

For more information on the Dinner with the Astronauts, call 321-264-0434.

STEM Saturdays return to Florida space museum

An opportunity for school children to learn about science, technology, engineering and math while surrounded by the artifacts of space exploration will start next month when the U.S. Space Walk of Fame Museum in Titusville, Florida, presents STEM Saturdays.

The space museum offers four workshops, from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m., with activities linked to the Florida Standards for fifth-grade science designed for students ages 8 to 13:

Science - Living in Space: International Space Station on Feb. 7. Students will investigate what it is like to live and work in space. Students will do hands-on experiments and work with glove boxes.

Technology - NASA Spinoffs and Robotics on March 7. Students examine NASA technologies, build their own robot and drive a Mars rover.

Engineering - Launch Pad Egress Design and Water Filtration Engineering Design Challenges on April 11. Students will investigate aspects of launch safety for crewed missions and design a system to protect astronauts. Students will also design water filtration devices.

Math - Map and Analyze Rocket Trajectories on May 9. Students will examine factors that influence rocket safety and create a map to determine safe launch characteristics. Students will build and launch their own paper rocket.

Each session is limited to 20 students. Cost is $25 a session and $80 for all four sessions.

To reserve a spot, call 321-264-0434.

The U.S. Space Walk of Fame Museum is in Downtown Titusville, Florida, at 308 Pine St.

Historic launch console lights up space museum for holidays

U.S. Space Walk of Fame Museum volunteer Keith Sowell points out 
a display on the Model IV Sequencer in the console room
at the Downtown Titusville, Florida, museum. 

Hardware responsible for launches from the Cape until 1988 provided a holiday light show last month at the U.S. Space Walk of Fame Museum in Titusville.

A Model IV Sequencer, a tall cabinet of wires, controls and readouts, was one of four models used in more than 20 blockhouses to support hundreds of missile launches on the Space Coast.

More than 20 years after its final launch, the Model IV Sequencer was found in Blockhouse 16 and donated to the museum. It was refurbished and now controls simulated launch countdowns in the museum's console room.

In the room lined with actual launch consoles, lights blink and flash from displays, buttons and switches as the older sequencer controls the countdown of a simulated launch many times day. 

"It excites the kids and the families love it," said Keith Sowell, an aircraft and avionics technician who volunteers at the museum. 

"During Christmas, we shut the lights off in here and the whole place looked lit up like a Christmas tree."