Exhibit coincides with anniversaries of Apollo 11 moon landing, Liberty Bell flight
On a weekend ripe with space milestones-the 33rd
anniversary of Apollo 11 moon landing (July 20, 1969) and the 41st anniversary of Virgil “Gus” Grissom’s
Liberty Bell 7 sub orbital flight (July 21, 1961) a replica of the “Freedom 7” space capsule splashed down at
MOSI.
On loan from Bruce Olds of SpaceCraft Exhibits in
Thonotosassa, the capsule represents the first manned American space flight made by Alan B. Shepard on May 5, 1961. Shepard
visited MOSI during Space Week in 1994.
The quality and detail of this replica is excellent,”
said Dave Conley, MOSI’s vice president of exhibits. “Special stamps were made to reproduce the corrugated metal
skin-that’s authentic! It’s also a nice complement to the Space Station film currently showing in our IMAX Dome Theatre”
Olds is recreating the era of early space flight
by building full scale, Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space replicas. “The current generation only indentifies the space
program with the shuttle. I want them to see how it all started,” said Olds, who grew up during the “space race.”
“It was a time of bold technological advances.”
The “Freedom 7” replica will be displayed
in MOSI’s Flight and Space Gallery on the third floor through January.
Temple Terrace News
July 2002
