Brenda Hyde: To Space and Beyond

Yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11 atop a Saturn V rocket, the mission to walk on the moon. Hubby D and I were fortunate to be able to attend the sold out gala celebration at the Saturn V Rocket exhibit at Kennedy Space Center hosted by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation and the Aldrin Family Foundation.

The event was not held without controversy. Apparently the Aldrin Family Foundation was recently dropped a lawsuit against Buzz Aldrin who they claim has dementia. The dispute puts a spotlight on guardianship issues.

Last night’s gala falls in the middle of a "Celebrating Apollo" weekend on the Space Coast, which included an astronaut parade in Cocoa Beach with all the astronauts riding in legendary corvettes.

Both Hubby D and I are big fans of space travel. Living here on the “Space Coast” we are able to be close to the action. We can watch rocket launches from our front yard. Every once in a while we even go out to the beach to the rockets soar out over the ocean.

Look closely and you can see the reflection of the rocket launch in the water to the right of LW.

This was a recording of a rocket launch taken from our driveway. If you are reading this in an email, you will need to go to my blog to view the video.

Grandson LW wanted to be an astronaut for Halloween last year. He told us when he was only 3 years old that he wanted to grow up to be an astronaut. However, he insists that he will fly into outer space in a space ship that is “not broken.” Apparently he thinks when they take off with flames coming out the back, they are broken.

For many months after Halloween, he would wear his astronaut space suite every day. It was just too cute.  

Last night started early as we needed to arrive at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) at 5PM to travel to the Saturn V hanger from KSC in a bus.

Notice the new shades? They were a gift from Revo and part of our swag bag for the event.

Space goodies!

As we traveled to the Saturn V hanger, Hubby D and I were visiting with other celebrants on the bus and discovered we were sitting next to the sculptor of the new bronze statue depicting the Apolo 11 astronauts, Mark Lundeen.  

Mark joined us for this photo with him in front of his masterpiece.

Rocket Mortgage commissioned the sculpture and while we were admiring the statue, we also met the gentleman who worked to secure that partnership. Steven Barber has made six documentaries since 2009 and has a real passion for Apollo 11.

Behind us on the bus was a couple, Sharon and Marc Hagle who have donated to the Aldrin Family Foundation and also formed a foundation of their own, Spacekids Global. Their mission is to support STEAM education from Pre K- 5th by generating excitement for space exploration and technology.

It was a very exciting evening with plenty of celebrities and talk about space. Great fun!

Stading under the Saturn V rocket engines is one of Hubby D's favorite selfie shots.

This photo was taken as they were getting ready to assemble the rocket for launch in 1969.

Al Roker was the Master of Ceremonies.

A panel of astronauts and others involved with Apollo V talked about their memories of the mission. It was very interesting to see these legends on person.

The Saturn V hall was all decked out for the event.

The new exhibit of the moon landing module was impressive.

Just a quick note for those who enjoy an update on my family. Grandson BSJ is doing fantastic in his new IT job and granddaughter MVL started her engineering career in Dallas all settled into her new apartment. Grandson MB is on a traveling baseball team and having a terrific summer traveling all over Oregon and competing. Whew! Are we having fun yet? YOU BET!