Apollo astronaut to speak at Falls luncheon
The youngest person ever to walk on the moon is coming to Niagara Falls.
Charlie Duke Jr., lunar module pilot for Apollo 16 — the fifth NASA mission to land astronauts on the moon — is guest speaker for the annual Niagara Falls Prayer Luncheon.
Over 11 days in April 1972, Duke and fellow astronauts Commander John Young and command module pilot Ken Mattingly were in space. Duke and Young spent 71 hours on the lunar surface, including moonwalks that lasted a combined 20 hours.
The luncheon, an annual event, is set for Oct. 18 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Club Italia on Montrose Road. Tickets cost $20 for adults and $12 for seniors and are available online at NiagaraFallsPrayerLuncheon.ca.
Only 12 humans have ever walked on the moon. Duke was the 10th. The first was Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong in 1969. The final two were Apollo 17 commander Eugene Cernan and lunar module pilot Harrison Schmitt, in December 1972.
In a 2017 interview with Forbes magazine, Duke said his most vivid memory of his time on the moon “is the beauty: the stark contrast between the brilliant grey of the moon and the blackness of space.”
“The grey was so bright it was almost white — a sharp break between the surface and the horizon. The sun was always shining, so you didn’t see stars or planets.”
Duke, now 82, was 36 years old when he visited the moon. He retired from the U.S. air force in 1976.
This is the 45th year for the mayor’s prayer luncheon or breakfast. Previous guests included Roger Woodward, who famously survived being swept over the falls as a seven-year-old in 1960, and 1972 Summit Series hero Paul Henderson.