Tranquility Base

OVER THE MOON:  I'm behind, as usual (sigh), with the blog. Last Friday, we found ourselves at The Museum of Flight (yes, again). We just *had* to get there to say goodbye to the Destination: Moon exhibit. Because who knows when, if ever, again, we'd get to see the Apollo 11 command module that took those intrepid astronauts to the moon back in 1969?

Outside of the exhibit, we had to take advantage of the 'planting the flag' photo opp!

 I have to say I kind of like the black and white filter, as it's more 1969 authentic. :)

Working our way toward the Apollo capsule, we passed some permanent Museum of Flight artifacts, including this enormous rocket engine from the Saturn V era.

 We also spied a rocket thruster. This one was signed by NASA astronaut Pete Conrad.

 We also spied this Pete Conrad space suit.

 Its label is a little different than most apparel.

 We got to see a real, live moon rock. It was made super cooler by knowing exactly where it came from on the moon!

We also got to check out the medical kit they had on board Apollo 11.

 This sign told us more about what was inside.

And then there was the survival kit on board. This was in case they didn't splash down where planned - or maybe in case there were hostiles on the moon? Check out the machete!

We also got to check the life support backpack that Buzz Aldrin wore on the moon.

 It was interesting reading the instructions on the back of the backpack!

We also got to see Buzz's helmet and gloves.

I found it so interesting that one of his gloves had a cheat sheet on it. It reminded me of plays that some quarterbacks have on their wrists during games. There was a lot more at stake during Aldrin's QB-ing!

And we learned about the heat shield that protected the Apollo astronauts.

Below is the 'lasagna' shot of the layers of the heat shield.

 And below this is the actual 'game worn' shield on Apollo 11.

The shot above is a closeup of the damage below.

It was surreal walking around Columbia, the vessel that took three men to the moon and back 50 years ago. 

 Some of my earliest memories involve Apollo missions and splash downs.

 The 'back' side of the capsule is completely devoid of windows.

The capsule's door was dismounted. We could see its inner workings pretty up close.

I'm so glad we took the time to go visit Apollo 11 one more time before it leaves the Seattle area.

The Museum of Flight did a lovely job hosting the historic exhibit, right down to remodeling their kids' play area.  CeeJ and Bee are a tad old for that space, but they enjoyed checking it out, nonetheless.