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Apollo 11, the 50th Anniversary (Part 3 of 3): The 25th Anniversary Flag

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IMG_9787OV-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 12th 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 25th 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 25th Anniversary celebrations of the Apollo 11 mission.

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Apollo 11, the 50th Anniversary (Part 1 of 3): The Mission Patch

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Fifty years ago today, three brave Americans blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida.  They were undertaking a challenging adventure, which only the American people have accomplished to this date.  Neil Armstrong was the mission commander, a former Naval Aviator and test pilot.  A veteran of the Korean War, he was previously the command pilot of the Gemini 8 mission.  Joining him in the lunar module named Eagle, was Air Force officer and fighter pilot Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin Jr.  “Buzz” Aldrin was also a veteran of the Korean War, having been credited with two aerial victories over communist MiG-15s.  He had previously flown into space on the Gemini 12 mission.  On the command module, Columbia, was Air Force officer and test pilot Michael Collins, a veteran of the Gemini 10 mission.  The mission patches – like the exterior of the white space suits – from Apollo 11 were made from a “space age material” called beta cloth.

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