In celebration of NASA's Apollo 11 lunar mission's 50th anniversary, scientists, engineers, astronauts, and space aficionados are gathering around the world to discuss the impact that the mission to the moon has imparted on the world.
During a special weeklong celebration, scientists, experts, and two astronauts spoke at the Wings Over the Rockies Museum in Denver, Colorado this past week. The museum is home to numerous airplanes and fighter jets, which have been decommissioned or retired from the US Air Force as well as a new space shuttle, Dream Chaser slated for launch in spring 2020.
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Astronauts Joe Engle and former Senator Harrison Schmitt spoke with Israel Hayom and shared their experiences in deep space.
Schmitt, a Republican who represented New Mexico in the US Senate from 1977 to 1983, was the last of 12 astronauts to have set foot on the moon.
"I was the last astronaut to have stepped foot on the moon," he said. "It was the end of an era."
His most memorable moment during his service at NASA was flying on the Apollo 17 mission that landed in 1972 on the lunar surface. While there, Schmitt and his team collected various geological data – over 240 pounds of lunar rocks – to study and from which to gather further research.
"It's the gift that keeps on giving," Schmitt said, adding that while back in the 1960s, technology was not as sophisticated as it is today, current computer advancements lead scientists to glean even more data from the rocks gathered nearly five decades ago.
Schmitt was part of a unique program in NASA that trained scientists to become astronauts. Originally trained as a geologist, having worked in Norway, Schmitt partnered with scientists at Flagstaff, Arizona to map the surface of the moon in preparation for the first human landing.
After earning his pilot's wings from the US Air Force and passing numerous tests, he was deployed in space in 1972 and conducted various geological experiments on the lunar surface.
Schmitt later served as a US senator and followed his political career with one as a geology professor. When asked what he thought of Israel's first spacecraft to the moon, Beresheet, he said, "I think it was a great success! It got to the moon. And I think Israel is fantastic for embarking on such a mission."
He then detailed the long trial and error period that NASA underwent to achieve its first successful launch and landing, noting not only the numerous scientists and engineers who poured their hearts and souls to the task at hand but also the administrators, project managers, and seamstresses who sew the astronauts' space suits. The latter crew comprised mainly of women, who were often unmentioned as being a major force behind the lunar mission.
Many do not realize the intense efforts that go into such a project on all fronts, Schmitt said, adding that he commends the Jewish state on this great project. "One must remember – it is the young people who help these missions become a reality" – their endless labor and toil put astronauts or even spacecraft into the far reaches of the universe.
Astronaut Joe Engle took part in flight test missions that were conducted even before an actual space shuttle was built.
Engle grew up in Kansas and pursued a degree in engineering, later serving in the US Air Force as well.
Prior to the first space shuttle, numerous fighter planes were developed and tested by fearless pilots, who risked their lives for the singular mission of putting Americans in space. Several of these planes were able to reach startling velocities and flew above the Earth's atmosphere without the protection that space shuttles have today.
Engle was most famous for flying the X-15 plane, which flew up to 4,520 miles per hour.
Although the technology was not as advanced in the 1950s as it is today, Engle explained that the engineers used giant automated computers and algorithm-generating machines to test and try to improve the plane's speed.
That in itself was quite remarkable, he said.
Lastly, Engle told Israel Hayom that "being up there in the X-15 – it was a crazy plane – was one of the most memorable moments of my life. It was hard, dangerous, and risky but it was the most fun I've had in my life."
