Pow Zoom.... to the Moon!

Johnsville Centrifuge

One of my favorite lines from the Honeymooners show..... But today I'm thinking about those brave men and women that have been involved with our space program. Today is the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11's landing on the moon!!! Neil Armstrong stepped on to the surface of the moon and made that famous quote "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind"

In celebration of the anniversary, we spent sometime at the Johnsville Centrifuge yesterday. This is where the astronauts did some training for their missions. They sat in the gondola of this huge contraption and got spun at speeds that exerted force on them at upwards of 32G's !!! Makes Disney's Mission Space seem like a walk in the park! The building and machinery is no longer in use and has not been maintained. The current owners have plans to make it a museum. I hope they are successful.

The observation booth

It was impressive to walk through the halls of the structure and reflect on what those men might have been feeling as they prepared for their testing. Some of the equipment was crude, even for the time frame when it was made. But apparently it served it's purpose.

Inside the gondola. No luxury here!

Having my oldest son along with me was a blessing, he knows so much about the space program and the missions. He soaks up this history and understands it. I love listening to him recount the stories he has learned, the reasoning he has come to understand and the enthusiasm that he feels. I'm glad to encourage him in learning and growing and questioning what has been done and what is yet to be accomplished. It is this level of passion in the hearts of our youth that will help to keep us moving forward.

Chris under the gondola, just to give some perspective to the size

In celebration, I'm sharing some photos of 2 of my sons doing one of their favorite past-times .... blasting rockets!!!