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I read about this the night before in a blog, and Gareth's current ambition is to be an astronaut, so off we went to South Coast Plaza.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/moon-astronauts-cernan-2491039-space-carpenter
I read in one of the OC Register blogs about this event the night before, so Gareth was all charged up to go to it. Mercury astronaut Scott Carpenter, Gemini and Apollo astronaut Thomas Stoffard, and Apollo astronaut Gene Cernan, who was the last human to step off the Moon, gave a panel discussion, with slides and video clips. Later, the kids were interviewed by an intern from the OC Register (only one statement by Gareth actually made it into the article, but
they're in some of the pictures there too; Avalon is the one giving Stoffard a high-five)
Turned out I parked at the wrong mall - I had in mind the Crystal Court across the street and it took place in the "Jewel Court" which is one small section of the original South Coast Plaza Mall, the bit in front of Macy's with the stained glass dome. So we walked across the footbridge to the proper place which was already crowded and full. Luckily when the old guys came out, they asked all the kids to come up to front -you can see all three of the kids in many of the article's pictures, and Avalon is the one giving Thomas Stofffard a high five (she'd given Cernan one a moment previously). Gareth got to shake their hands and asked Cernan, was any part of being on the moon scary? He replied, None was really hairy, but thinking about it beforehand was. Avalon asked Stoffard if they saw any satellites while they were up there, He replied not until the Apollo-Soyuz mission. Gareth is quoted in the article, although the OC Register intern talked to all of us. Gareth also swore he was never going to wash his hand again after shaking Gene Cernan's, and he'll never forget it.
Cernan must have done a lot of public speaking, because he was quite good at it. Some quotes and stories:
"Neil Armstrong was a good commander but he was a lousy navigator - so we had to paint a white line in the sky for him to follow."
The story about the "Beat Army" sign that appeared in the window of one of the Gemini capsules.
The Apollo-Soyuz mission, where after they met, shook hands and shared some food, a picture of two astronauts holding tubes with Russian lettering. "If you can read Russian, one says 'High-Grade Vodka' and the other is labelled 'standard vodka'" said Stoffard - but when they opened them, they both contained only borscht.
Gareth is becoming quite the solemn dude in the picture lately. You'd think he never smiles.
Some videos posted here.
Interview with Scott Carpenter - "Honor Your Curiosity"
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/moon-astronauts-cernan-2491039-space-carpenter
I read in one of the OC Register blogs about this event the night before, so Gareth was all charged up to go to it. Mercury astronaut Scott Carpenter, Gemini and Apollo astronaut Thomas Stoffard, and Apollo astronaut Gene Cernan, who was the last human to step off the Moon, gave a panel discussion, with slides and video clips. Later, the kids were interviewed by an intern from the OC Register (only one statement by Gareth actually made it into the article, but
they're in some of the pictures there too; Avalon is the one giving Stoffard a high-five)
Turned out I parked at the wrong mall - I had in mind the Crystal Court across the street and it took place in the "Jewel Court" which is one small section of the original South Coast Plaza Mall, the bit in front of Macy's with the stained glass dome. So we walked across the footbridge to the proper place which was already crowded and full. Luckily when the old guys came out, they asked all the kids to come up to front -you can see all three of the kids in many of the article's pictures, and Avalon is the one giving Thomas Stofffard a high five (she'd given Cernan one a moment previously). Gareth got to shake their hands and asked Cernan, was any part of being on the moon scary? He replied, None was really hairy, but thinking about it beforehand was. Avalon asked Stoffard if they saw any satellites while they were up there, He replied not until the Apollo-Soyuz mission. Gareth is quoted in the article, although the OC Register intern talked to all of us. Gareth also swore he was never going to wash his hand again after shaking Gene Cernan's, and he'll never forget it.
Cernan must have done a lot of public speaking, because he was quite good at it. Some quotes and stories:
"Neil Armstrong was a good commander but he was a lousy navigator - so we had to paint a white line in the sky for him to follow."
The story about the "Beat Army" sign that appeared in the window of one of the Gemini capsules.
The Apollo-Soyuz mission, where after they met, shook hands and shared some food, a picture of two astronauts holding tubes with Russian lettering. "If you can read Russian, one says 'High-Grade Vodka' and the other is labelled 'standard vodka'" said Stoffard - but when they opened them, they both contained only borscht.
Gareth is becoming quite the solemn dude in the picture lately. You'd think he never smiles.
Some videos posted here.
Interview with Scott Carpenter - "Honor Your Curiosity"
