The Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center celebrates its 50th anniversary on April 28 with a program featuring Apollo Astronauts Harrison Schmitt and Charlie Duke, plus Kansas natives and Space Shuttle Astronauts Joe Engle and Steve Hawley. The event and tribute to Cosmosphere founder Patty Carey begins at 6 p-m, with a silent auction of fine jewelry and space memorabilia, followed by the program at 6:30 – 7:45 p-m. The event is free to Cosmosphere members and $75 for non-members.
The four space pioneers will share their memories of NASA missions and recount how various artifacts in the collection at the Cosmosphere were associated with their missions.
Charlie Duke was the lunar module pilot for Apollo 16, having a record-setting stay of more than 71 hours on the Moon’s surface.
Harrison Schmitt was the lunar module pilot for Apollo 17, the last Apollo mission to the Moon. He was the only scientist and, with Astronaut Gene Cernan, was the last of 12 men to step on the Moon.
Joe Engle, a Kansas native from Dickinson County, commanded the second orbital test flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia. He is the only pilot to manually fly an aerospace vehicle from Mach 25 to landing. He has a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Kansas.
Steve Hawley, hailing from Salina, Kan., has logged more than 770 hours as a mission specialist on five separate space shuttle flights. He is now a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Kansas.
Joining the astronauts will be Brooks Carey, the oldest son of founder Patty Carey, who will pay tribute to his mother’s fascination with astronomy, and her passionate desire to create a planetarium and share her love of space with her fellow Kansans.
Following the opening program, a VIP reception begins at 8 p.m., during which guests can personally meet the astronauts and have a photo taken with them. The VIP reception is $150 for Cosmosphere members and $200 for non-members and includes the basic photo with the astronauts.
“The Cosmosphere is one of the most unique places on Earth because it tells the story of the development of human spaceflight including the many challenges and achievements,” said Astronaut Steve Hawley. “Nowhere else can you witness this full continuum of inspirations, successes, defeats, and dogged perseverance. From the engineers of World War II who launched the first rockets, to the astronauts steering our next generation of spaceflight, the Cosmosphere has found innovative ways to tell our stories, display our actual spacecraft, and give visitors hands-on opportunities to pilot their own space travel.”
The Cosmosphere’s collection includes more than 15,000 space artifacts and flown space capsules, making it the world’s most extensive U.S. and Soviet space history collection outside of the National Air & Space Museum in Washington, DC, or Moscow. Throughout its 50-year history, the Cosmosphere has added to its collection some of space exploration’s crown jewels, including:
Liberty Bell 7, the Mercury 7 capsule flown by Astronaut Gus Grissom, which splashed down and sank in 1961. After 38 years underwater, the recovered capsule was fully restored by the Cosmosphere’s SpaceWorks division and is owned by the Cosmosphere.
Apollo 13 Command Module Odyssey, the famed capsule that safely returned Astronauts Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert to Earth after an oxygen tank explosion in space aborted their Moon mission.
A genuine V2 ballistic missile rescued from Huntsville’s Redstone Arsenal dominates the German Gallery.
Vostok Mission Kosmos 1978, which flew without a crew in 1981. It was loaded with cameras and served as a primitive spy satellite. It is of similar design to the Vostok capsules that carried the first Soviet men and women into space.
The Cosmosphere draws more than 150,000 annual visitors from around the world. In addition, more than 15,000 school children each year attend the Cosmosphere on field trips. More than 1,000 attend the Cosmosphere’s summer space education camps.
Reservations for all 50th anniversary events on April 28 are required. Contact pattif@cosmo.org, mailto:pattif@cosmo.org or call 800-397-0330 ext. 310 for tickets.
The Cosmosphere is located at 1100 N. Plum in Hutchinson.