Came across a few more photos of our work on the USS Hornet last Sunday (see previous post) that I wanted to share. I know these may not interest everyone, but it's a topic that excites me on many levels: space history, creative expression, teaching, storytelling, parental pride--mostly, just getting to play with cool toys.
Did you see the recent episode of "The Big Bang Theory" with a mock YouTube video of Buzz Aldrin handing kids candy on Halloween? The set-up is that Howard (the character watching the video with his wife) just returned from a stint on the International Space Station and drove his friends crazy bragging about it:
"I walked on the Moon. What have
you done?" I built a space museum on an aircraft carrier. What did
you do?
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| The Apollo Exhibit gallery space as we received it, freshly painted. This view is from near the far end looking back toward the foyer through the open door. |
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| Girl Under Glass. |
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| Laura and Chad delicately repairing a Lunar Module model that had gotten some dings over the years. |
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| Sorting and loading. |
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| Laura (in back) and her friend and fellow museum master Erica laying out one of the display panels. |
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| These three display cases hold (L to R) an Apollo-era astronaut survival kit, astronaut Tom Stafford's seat from Apollo 10 (as Jim noted in the last post's comments, one of the three fastest pieces of furniture in history), and those models Laura and Chad were working on. |
If you're ever in the San Francisco Bay Area and have any interest in space or military history, I can't recommend a trip to
the USS Hornet in Alameda enough. I obviously love the old gray gal.
Thanks for your indulgence.
Those display cases are excellent. The whole "less is more" philosophy really makes each exhibit stand out. Fantastic LM/CM/SM models, too. Who built the Tranquility Base diorama? The scene gives a very direct example to tie the mission of the Hornet to the exploration of the lunar surface.
ReplyDeleteAgain, kudos to Laura, Chad, Erica, Karen and you for putting together such a stunning narrative of humanity's most ambitious adventure. Thanks for letting me be a part of all this.
Thanks, and thanks for your help, Jim. "Less is more" was definitely one of Laura's guiding philosophies. As you know, we aimed to grab a young or uninformed visitor who doesn't know much about Apollo (which, it hurts to realize, is History for anyone younger than you and me). If we can tell a clear story that implants three or four key facts or concepts--including such basic ideas as "the Moon is really far away and really, really hard to get to"--mission accomplished. Laura is a good editor.
ReplyDeleteI don't know who built the diorama, but I think it's the same person/company that built the spacecraft models. Chad knows. They're all quite well done.