Today's post is about my visit to Armstrong Air and Space Museum in Wapakoneta, Ohio. Wapakoneta is the home town of Neil Armstrong, the famous astronaut who was one of the first to step on the surface of the moon in 1969. I visited with a friend at the start of September, and we had a downpour of rain that caused a couple of massive accidents that we got stuck in. Both involved large trucks. One of them ended up being a fatality, and we were glad when we made it safely there.
The entrance to the museum shows a boy playing with an airplane. The first astronauts were pilots. Ohio is also known as the "birthplace of aviation" since the Wright Brothers were from Ohio (although they tested their prototypes near the shore in North Carolina), and several astronauts are from Ohio. The second statue is located next to the museum entrance.
Upon entering, we saw a wall dedicated to Ohio's astronauts. My grandmother actually went to school with John Glenn; he was a grade or two ahead of her, and they went to the same school and college.
The museum has various exhibitions related to the moon landing, the space race, Neil Armstrong, and the lives and trainings of astronauts. Some of Armstrong's personal items are pictured below along with some photographs of the town as Neil Armstrong would have known it.
Armstrong's space suit was also on display.
Along with signed photographs of shuttles or satellites over the Earth.
There was also a replica shuttle to see - Gemini VII.
Here's a photograph of one of the display rooms.
We could also listen to an interactive bit with sound and an image of the Earth as it could have been seen from the moon's surface.
Below are some of the tools that the astronauts would have used.
Some items from the Apollo 11 moon landing were on display too, such as a moon rock and a part of the fabric from the lunar module.
The below American flag also went on that mission and came back.
Another item on display is the Armstrong space suit sculpture. The suit was a technical advancement for its time and built to withstand radiation. The sculpture is a digitised copy of the suit to help preserve it for future generations.
Below are a set of medals and "keys to the city" (various cities) belonging to Armstrong after his fame.
Below are a set of cameras that were used to film the surface of the moon.
Outside were a couple of replica shuttles/capsuls that could be interacted with. It was wet and miserable weather, so we did not stay there long.
Overall, it was a nice visit with a lot of interesting air and space information for those interested in astronauts and space as well as some of the history about the moon landing.
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