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
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| 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.
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
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
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| 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.
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.
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| Students shake hands with Astronaut Michael McCulley. |
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.)
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