AKA
07-20-2004, 04:21 PM
Planetarium Observes Apollo 11 Anniversary
By Beverley Wang
The Associated Press
CONCORD, N.H. - Thirty-five years ago, Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped out of the lunar module and onto the moon, marking the climax of the U.S.-Soviet space race with the words, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."
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Today, rovers scour Mars' surface, a craft orbits Saturn, astronauts live on the International Space Station and satellites dot outer space like flies.
Tuesday, Concord's Christa McAuliffe Planetarium feted Apollo 11's achievement with an all-day celebration of space exploration. Hundreds of children were there, many lining up to get an autograph from a real astronaut.
"Teachers you meet often, but astronauts, it's not very often," said 10-year-old Riley Maynard of Durham, who was first to get her notebook signed by Jay Buckey, a Dartmouth faculty member who orbited the earth aboard the Columbia spacecraft in 1998.
These children weren't born when the lunar craft landed on July 20, 1969, and their parents may be too young to remember.
But Vinnie Devino does. Devino, 69, is a retired aerospace engineer who worked on the lunar module.
"The Russians had basically outshone us," said Devino, referring to the Soviets' 1961 feat of sending the first human into space. "There was a matter of national pride involved ... we were in a race with Russia to get to the moon, and now a lot of that competitiveness has been removed."
Devino said a shift in the 1970s to space exploration using robots cooled the public's interest in space travel. He said schools should push the sciences more strongly to encourage young people to consider working in the aerospace industry.
"All sorts of things that people use daily really were started by our investment in space," said Buckey, the astronaut. "We need to make new investments in order to have the technology for the future."
By Beverley Wang
The Associated Press
CONCORD, N.H. - Thirty-five years ago, Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped out of the lunar module and onto the moon, marking the climax of the U.S.-Soviet space race with the words, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."
You can buy low-priced PCs, but should you? We rank the top value PCs, and grade manufacturers' service and reliability.
Today, rovers scour Mars' surface, a craft orbits Saturn, astronauts live on the International Space Station and satellites dot outer space like flies.
Tuesday, Concord's Christa McAuliffe Planetarium feted Apollo 11's achievement with an all-day celebration of space exploration. Hundreds of children were there, many lining up to get an autograph from a real astronaut.
"Teachers you meet often, but astronauts, it's not very often," said 10-year-old Riley Maynard of Durham, who was first to get her notebook signed by Jay Buckey, a Dartmouth faculty member who orbited the earth aboard the Columbia spacecraft in 1998.
These children weren't born when the lunar craft landed on July 20, 1969, and their parents may be too young to remember.
But Vinnie Devino does. Devino, 69, is a retired aerospace engineer who worked on the lunar module.
"The Russians had basically outshone us," said Devino, referring to the Soviets' 1961 feat of sending the first human into space. "There was a matter of national pride involved ... we were in a race with Russia to get to the moon, and now a lot of that competitiveness has been removed."
Devino said a shift in the 1970s to space exploration using robots cooled the public's interest in space travel. He said schools should push the sciences more strongly to encourage young people to consider working in the aerospace industry.
"All sorts of things that people use daily really were started by our investment in space," said Buckey, the astronaut. "We need to make new investments in order to have the technology for the future."