SkyLab

“We'll never stop exploring, never stop reaching out. It's hard wired into our psyche.” Ed Gibson, Explorers Ball, January 31^st 2013

The Explorers Ball was an evening which included all 8 surviving Skylab astronauts on a panel discussing their time in space. The event commemorated the 40^th anniversary of the launch of the USA's first space station as well as the permanent placement of the Skylab exhibit in the Davidson Center at the USSRC.

I was thankful to be scheduled for this event, I was posted outside and at the doors with many other crew trainers and we welcomed every guest as they arrived. It was a really special event I'm honored that it was the first thing I got to be a part of since graduating. It was also the first time I got to wear my crew trainer wings and proper name patch.

I walked into the exhibit this evening after the museum closed. The lights were most of the way off, there was a group of Boy Scouts getting a tour and it was delightfully calm. I love going into the museums in the evening, it's so peaceful and I don't get distracted by people. I feel like I can delve into the information so much better. It's cool to be able to envelop myself in the history between those walls, really imagine what it was like to be alive during those great milestones. I feel like putting myself into these stories will help me teach my trainees better.

Imagination aside, getting to walk into the SkyLab exhibit days after it was installed was really neat. It still had the new car smell. I caught a whiff of the new plastic used for the signs and plexiglass in addition to the plywood in the ramp, which had yet to be scuffed up by hundreds of daily visitors, so the black flooring was still shiny.

As I rounded the ramp to the entrance I got excited. They had been working on installing it for a few days so I had plenty of time to have a full tank of anticipation. I could hear the sound of little tennis shoes running the distance of the Saturn V rocket as I began reading the placards. An overview of the construction process, the missions and it's unfortunate demise; I appreciated that the designers of the exhibit let the display speak for itself.