Space capsules draw visitors to museums
Manned, space-flow capsules are holy grails sought out by many traveling space buffs, and Ohio has two more to see in addition to the Gemini 8 capsule at the Armstrong Air & Space Museum in Wapakoneta.
The Apollo 15 Command Module, which flew astronauts (including Armstrong’s Gemini 8 partner David Scott) to the moon two years after Apollo 11, is on permanent display at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force near Dayton. The museum is about an hour’s drive from Wapakoneta and features an extensive space collection as well as one of the finest collections of military aircraft in the world.
The Air Force museum also will celebrate the moon-landing anniversary with a new space-suit exhibit and Family Day activities on July 20 with model-rocket launches, an astronaut talk and presentations on the history of manned space flight. For more information, call 937255-3286 or visit www. nationalmuseum.af.mil.
The NASA Glenn Visitors Center at the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland is home to the Apollo/ Skylab 3 Command Module, which flew in 1973 shortly after the moon missions. The center will celebrate the moon-landing anniversary on July 19-20 with an astronaut talk, live science demonstrations and a special exhibit about the Apollo program. For more information, call 216-694-2000 or visit greatscience.com.
Ohio will also get one more space capsule — the most famous of all — for a short time later this year.
Armstrong’s Apollo 11 Command Module which he flew to the moon with astronauts Michael Collins and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin Jr., is normally displayed at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Washington, D.C. The "Columbia" module currently is part of a traveling exhibit, “Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission,” which will visit the Cincinnati Museum Center from Sept. 28 to Feb. 17. The exhibit will also feature many other artifacts connected with Apollo 11.
For more information, call 1-800-733-2077 or visit www.cincymuseum. org/destination-moon.
Many other sites around the Buckeye State also will be celebrating the moon-landing anniversary with special events and exhibits. For a complete listing, visit ohio.org/lunar-landing.