Cradle of Aviation to Salute 34th Anniversary of Apollo Lunar Landing with Two-July Programs: "Living in Space" and "Rockets Away"

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The Cradle of Aviation Museum will host two weekend programs in celebration of Apollo 11’s successful lunar mission of July 20, 1969. "Living in Space," an ongoing exhibit, will open to the public on Saturday, July 26th. It will examine how humans live in space. It will address such topics as: eating, sleeping, washing and going to the bathroom in space. "The human body has evolved over four million years," said Cradle of Aviation Vice President Tom Gwynne. "In space there is no gravity. Simple acts like eating sleeping and going to the bathroom are issues that had to be addressed, and we will explore the solutions that NASA experts came up with."

"Rockets Away," a program dedicated to the impact that rockets have had on our lives and the evolution of rocket science, will be held from 12 noon to 4:00 PM on Saturday and Sunday July 26th and 27th. "Landing on the moon was the realization of a dream that people dreamt since our prehistoric ancestors first gazed at the lights in the heavens and wondered what they were," said Juliann Gaydos Muller, Director of Education. "For over a thousand years rockets were used as weapons, signals and recreation. Today, rockets carry people and satellites to orbit the Earth and launch the spacecrafts that explore our solar system."

Museum educators will shoot rockets powered by baking soda, vinegar, air and water into the sky to demonstrate how a rocket launches and travels through space. "Children visiting the cradle during this very special weekend will be able to gain a unique hands on understanding of rocketry and rocket science," said Gaydos Muller. "Few Long Islanders are aware that we can trace our involvement with space flight to the earliest pioneering experiments of Robert Goddard. A rather spectacular, noisy failed flight in 1929 caused Goddard’s work to be banned in Massachusetts. Charles Lindbergh read a report of this flight and, impressed with the possibilities of the rocket, brought it to the attention of his friends, philanthropists Daniel and Harry Guggenheim of Sands Point."

While man’s insatiable curiosity and his need to comprehend the world around him drove the moon landing, the trip to the lunar surface actually began four decades earlier with the launch of the first liquid fuel rocket. It demanded the rigorous discipline and exercise of thousands of human minds, attempting to discern and integrate the millions of bits of information needed to meet the technical challenges of such a trip. And it demonstrated that those minds, by understanding the natural world, could command it.

The weekend will include an examination of the science fiction writings of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells and their impact on rocket design. Museum educators will also discuss the cold war, Sputnik and the Mercury, Gemini, Saturn and Apollo programs, as well as the work of Werner Von Braun, who led Germany’s efforts to build the V2 rocket during WWII, and his role in the U.S. space program in the post war years.

The Cradle of Aviation Museum is located on Charles Lindbergh Blvd. in Garden City, adjacent to Nassau Community College off of Exit M4 of the Meadowbrook Parkway. For further information, please visit www.cradleofaviation.org or by calling 516-572-4111.