The Apollo 11 Exhibit May 16, 2019

Copyright © 2019                               John F. Oyler 

May 16, 2019

The Apollo 11 Exhibit at the Heinz History Center

The Bridgeville Area Historical Society’s April program meeting featured a presentation by the Senator John Heinz History Center curator Emily Ruby on their recent exhibit “Destination Moon: the Apollo 11 Mission”. The Center was justly proud of being one of four national museums dedicated to history being honored by hosting this epic exhibition created by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service.

She began by reviewing the history of our space program. Toward the end of World War II it became obvious that Germany’s military rocket program was well ahead of anything the Allies had developed. When the War ended the German rocket scientists were conveniently exempted from war crimes indictments and quickly found comfortable new careers in rocket programs in Russia and the United States.

Their work was largely ignored until October 4, 1967, when the Russians launched Sputnik I, the first successful artificial satellite, and moved into the forefront of the space race. Sputnik could be observed passing over Pittsburgh every ninety sixty minutes and broadcasting short wave radio signals. The signals ceased after three weeks, and ten weeks later Sputnik re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere and burned up.

The success of Sputnik sent a shock wave through our society. We were behind in the Space Race. There was a “missile gap”. Chicken Little was right, “The sky was falling”. We responded by passing the National Defense Education Act to encourage university students to major in mathematics and science. The Advanced Projects Research Agency and the National Aeronautics and Space Agency were established.

Actually we weren’t that far behind. Three weeks after Sputnik burned up our Explorer 1 satellite was launched and began transmitting scientific data back to earth. Nonetheless John F. Kennedy exploited the missile gap on his way to winning the Presidential election in 1959. On April 21, 1961, the Soviets logged another first when Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space.

Kennedy’s response was to tell Congress on May 24, 1961, that the United States"should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.” By this time, the Mercury Project, initiated during the Eisenhower administration, was well under way, culminating in its sixth successful manned mission in May,1963, with Gordon Cooper making twenty-two orbits.

Next came the Gemini Project, so-named because each mission involved two astronauts. Ten successful missions ended in November,1966, with Jim Lovell and Buzz Aldrin demonstrating the practicality of executing space walks and of docking with another space vehicle. By now it was clear that our entry in the Space Race had closed the perceived gap significantly.

The Apollo Project expanded the size of the space crew from two to three with a larger space vehicle. Our optimism suffered a setback on January 27, 1967, when a fire broke out in the vehicle cabin during a simulation test, asphyxiating astronauts Ed White, Gus Grissom, and Roger Chaffee. This disaster initiated a complete review of the safety features of the program and a number of major design changes.

Five successful Apollo missions culminated in the memorable night, July 20, 1969, when Neil Armstrong jumped out of Apollo 11 and stepped onto the surface of the moon. Six more missions ended the program with Apollo 17. We had leaped ahead in the Space Race and had honored Kennedy’s commitment.

Ms. Ruby then described the process the History Center followed in designing this exhibit, beginning with an inventory of the artifacts that would be included, and ending with the decision to focus it on contributions Pittsburgh firms made to the success of the mission. We Pittsburghers are parochial, and one way to generate an interest in an exhibit is to emphasize local ties.

Some of these ties were a bit of a stretch. When Jules Verne wrote his novel, “From the Earth to the Moon”, his space ship is propelled by a massive “Columbiad” cannon. The biggest Columbiads, with a twenty inch bore, were made by the Fort Pitt Foundry during the Civil War. The Apollo astronauts named their command module, the Columbia, as homage to Jules Verne.

Ms. Ruby mentioned a number of local firms who contributed to the mission – North American Rockwell, Westinghouse, Union Switch and Signal, the American Bridge Company, ALCOA, Blaw Knox, and Mine Safety Appliances. She even included a small local firm, whose name I missed, that provided the sheath knife in the survival kit the astronauts would need if their splashdown on re-entry delivered them to a desert island.

Her cutest story dealt with the community of Apollo, in Armstrong Country. Once they discovered they were the only place in the world named Apollo, they decided to exploit their advantage. On the day Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, they sent two firemen dressed as astronauts to Moon Township to recover “moon dirt”. She proudly showed a photograph of a small pot of this artifact which was displayed in the exhibit.

My memories of the Space Race are still distinct. I remember trying to spot Sputnik as it passed overhead. I remember getting our three-year old daughter Elizabeth out of bed to watch the moon landing, an experience she fondly recalls. 

After experiencing the technological explosion in the 1950s and 1960s, we all believed there were incredible achievements in space ahead in the near future. It is difficult today to realize that we have never returned to the moon, let alone established a base there. Instead our technological successes are Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

The next Historical Society program is scheduled for May 28, 2019, when Todd DePastino will discuss the Whiskey Rebellion. It will be held at the Chartiers Room, Bridgeville Volunteer Fire Department, at 7:30 pm.