OV-102, the first spaceflight capable orbiter in the US space shuttle fleet, shared the name Columbia with the Apollo 11 Command Module.  Columbia also has a special place in my heart as I was on crew with the 12^th Space Warning Squadron conducting the space surveillance mission when Columbia disintegrated upon reentry during its final spaceflight as part of mission STS-107.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) celebrated the 25^th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 on Saturday, July 16, 1994 with a replay of the countdown and the launch of model rockets.  Over 500 people gathered for the launch ceremony, to include Apollo 13 astronaut, Fred Haise and Apollo 17 commander, Eugene Cernan.  [1]  Simultaneously, the space shuttle Columbia was conducting its seventeenth spaceflight mission.  In addition to the shared name, Columbia and Apollo 11 also connected during mission STS-65 when Columbia took part in the 25^th Anniversary celebrations of the Apollo 11 mission.

Launched on July 8, 1994, STS-65, commanded by Robert “Bob” D. Cabana, a USMC Colonel, was a Spacelab flight and the second mission for the International Microgravity Laboratory 2 (IML-2).  Japanese astronaut, Chiaki Naito-Mukai, M.D., Ph.D. made history as the first Japanese woman to fly into space aboard the mission. [2]

The IML-2 mission was to undertake manufacturing experiments to determine the effect of gravity on the formation of crystalline structures and metal alloys.  Additionally, life sciences experiments were conducted on the Japanese Red Bellied Newt and the Moon Jellyfish. [3]  In addition to the IML-2 payload, on board were special 25^th Anniversary of Apollo 11 flags being flown.

One of these flags was presented to Mr. Rex C. Stanley, whose name is printed on the Certificate accompanying the flag.  Mr. Stanley was born in Baker, Florida and was an alumni of Florida State University and Rolling College.  In the 1960s, he worked for the Internal Revenue Service.  In 1966, he began a 30 year career (retiring in 1996) at NASA as a Computer Systems Engineer and Software Engineering Manager.  Mr. Rex C. Stanley passed away on January 21, 2017.  [4]

The flag is pasted onto the presentation certificate and is in a white card stock folder with the 25^th Anniversary logo on the front.  Included in the presentation package are two decals for the Apollo 11 mission patch and the STS-65 mission patch and a NASA printout of the STS-65 crew and a brief biography of each crew member.

This artifact not only commemorates the historic Apollo 11 mission, the brave astronauts who have flown on Columbia over the years; but also the many unsung heroes who have worked on the NASA spaceflight missions over the past decades.  Jack King, the Apollo 11 launch commentator highlighted the importance of these unsung heroes and the precision they had to exhibit on a daily basis when describing the Apollo 11 spacecraft.  Noting there were more than 5.6 million parts involved in the spacecraft, “….any one of which could go wrong.  With 99.9 percent success, 5,000 things could still happen.  When you look back at it from that point of view, it’s rather an awesome concept to contemplate. [5]

SOURCES:

1. “Apollo 11 Anniversary party lifts off.” The Tampa Tribune.  Tampa, FL.  July 17, 1994.  Page 2.
2. “The Crew of Space Shuttle Mission STS-65.” JSCCL13B.  National Aeronautics and Space Administration.  1994.
3. STS-65 Press Kit. Release 94-96.  National Aeronautics and Space Administration.  July 1994.  https://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-65/sts-65-press-kit.txt  Accessed February 8, 2020.
4. “Rex Stanley” Obituary – Crestview, FL. Northwest Florida Daily News.  https://obits.nwfdailynews.com/obituaries/nwfdailynews/obituary.aspx?n=rex-carnell-stanley&pid=183703112&fhid=10291  Accessed February 8, 2020.
5. “Apollo 11 Anniversary party lifts off.” The Tampa Tribune.  Tampa, FL.  July 17, 1994.  Page 2.