Thursday, August 9, 2012

Space Shuttle Enterprise at the Intrepid

Way back in April of 2010, we took part in a rally in support of bringing one of the retiring Space Shuttles to NYC's Intrepid, Sea, Air & Space Museum. Kev and Mikro dressed up in space suits for the occasion, and were promised that, if it happened, they would get to be there for the opening. And we were. Kev was given VIP guest passes for our family for the Grand Opening Ceremony. We got to sit 5 rows from the stage, just behind NASA astronaut and Associate Administrator for Education Leland Melvin, the 8 NASA astronauts from the NYC area and Dr. Ruth Westheimer!

On stage were representatives of the Intrepid, the sponsors of the week long Spacefest event, and NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and the astronauts who flew the Enterprise: Fred W. Haise, Jr., C. Gordon Fullerton (represented by his wife), Joe H. Engle and Richard H. Truly.

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After the speeches, the ribbon was cut, opening the Space Shuttle Pavilion for visitors. We walked all around and underneath Enterprise and met up with her original commander, Astronaut Fred Haise (also of Apollo 13), and talked with him.

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Then we headed out to the Pier to enjoy the many NASA displays and educational opportunities:

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Mikro even made it into the background of an ABC newscast.

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What an amazing day!

1 comment:

Sparklee said...

Looks like a fun day!