Intrepid Museum
Virtual Astronomy Live
35th Anniversary of the Space Shuttle Columbia launch
Past EVENT
Thursday, January 21, 2021
5:30 PM EST
35 years ago on January 12, 1986, STS-61C (Space Shuttle Columbia) launched at 6:55 a.m. EST. Crew: Commander Robert L. "Hoot" Gibson, Pilot Charles F. Bolden Jr., Mission Specialists Franklin R. Chang-Diaz, George D. “Pinky” Nelson and Steven A. Hawley and Payload Specialists Robert J. Cenker and Congressman William C. Nelson. Deployment of commercial communications satellite SATCOM KU-1. Landed at Edwards AFB, CA, January 18, 8:58 a.m. EST. Mission Duration: 6 days, 2 hours, 3 minutes and 51 seconds. Franklin Chang-Diaz became first Hispanic-American male in space. First member of U.S. House of Representatives in space, Bill Nelson.
Hear from former Astronaut and 12th NASA Administrator, Charles F. Bolden Jr., as he shares his experiences on board the Space Shuttle Columbia.
A pre-show will take place at 5:00pm EST with Intrepid Museum Educator Frantz Lucien. Join us for a demonstration: Blast off! Launching Space Shuttles.
The event is hosted and co-produced by John “Das” Galloway, founder of the Kerbal Space Academy.
This program is supported through a NASA Cooperative Agreement awarded to the New York Space Grant Consortium.
Participants
Charles F. Bolden Jr.
The Honorable Charles F. Bolden Jr. Major General, USMC (Ret.) 12th NASA Administrator: Charles F. Bolden Jr. charted a pioneering career in the U.S. Marine Corps and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He flew over 100 combat missions in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, and orbited the Earth on four separate occasions as a NASA Space Shuttle pilot and commander. In 2009, President Barack Obama asked Bolden serve as the 12th Administrator of NASA. He was the first African American confirmed by the US Senate to take on the role, a precedent that Bolden insists is only important if he is one day followed by women or other persons of color.
Michael Massimino
Michael Massimino, Former NASA astronaut, Professor Columbia University, School of Engineering and Sr. Advisor Space Programs, Intrepid Museum.
Summer Ash
Moderator
Summer Ash has been both a rocket scientist and an astrophysicist. She is a freelance science writer and communicator whose work has been published in The Atlantic, NBC News, Smithsonian, Now.Space, Scientific American, Slate, and Nautilus.
John “Das”Galloway
Host and Producer
“Das” is a science outreach communicator who specializes in live, interactive video content. He is the creator of the Kerbal Space Academy, where he uses video games as a tool to start science and engineering conversations with viewers of all ages, and VECTORS Virtual Field Trips, which brings real-time interactive video to museums, events, and historical locations. “Das” also serves as a host and producer for NASASpaceflight.com.
Produced by Intrepid Museum in partnership with Kerbal Space Academy and Egress Productions, LLC.