NASA Apollo 6 paved America's Pathway to the Moon

ATLANTA -- As America recalls the golden anniversary of mankind's first voyage to the moon this December, the lesser known flight of Apollo 6 cleared a major hurdle for NASA as it paved the country's pathway toward lunar orbit.

Designed as a test flight article and flew unmanned, the flight of Apollo 6 fifty years ago tested not just the spacecraft itself, but launched the largest rocket America ever flew on a second and final critical mission to ensure the astronauts safety.

Today, the Apollo 6 command module rests at the Fernbank Science Center in East Atlanta. The spacecraft is on public display at the science center and remains a testament to the Earth orbiting test flight which flew on April 4, 1968.

The launch of the second Saturn 5 with Apollo 6 (AS-502) a top lifted-off at 7:00:01 a.m. EDT, from Florida's Kennedy Space Center. The nearly 365-foot tall rocket darted into a blue morning sky without a crew, however loaded with a wealth of science instruments and video cameras for engineers to reseach in the months that followed.


Once launched, flight controllers began to notice the rocket was shaking a bit as it ascended through the atmosphere. The five massive F1 engines at the base of the rocket's first stage performed well for the first two minutes, and then, according to a 1968 NASA memo, "there were thrust fluctuations that caused the vehicle to bounce like a giant pogo stick for about 30 seconds."

Atlanta to host National Astronomy Day events Saturday

Astronomers from across the Peach State will celebrate National Astronomy Day on Saturday, a day set aside to promote interest with children and adults in the study of our universe.

Sponsored by Astronomy magazine and Celestron telescopes, Astronomy Day will feature several observatories and museums across America participating in science themed activities, including two museums right here in metro Atlanta.

Near Decatur, the Fernbank Science Center will host family activities from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday.

Planetarium shows scheduled include The Sky Tonight at 11:00 a.m., which includes a guided tour through the constellations and planets by a live astronomer.

Here Comes the Sun program begins at 1:30 p.m., and is geared for the children as it answers basic question about Earth's closest star.

And, The Planets will start at 3:00 p.m., and features a dynamic voyage across the solar system narrated by actress Kate Mulgrew.

Visit Fernbank's Web site for detail information and for directions.

Across town and thirty minutes northwest of Atlanta in Cartersville, the Tellus Science Museum will celebrate the celestial party.

Tellus will host astronomy and science related events from 10:00 a.m. thru 11:00 p.m., and will include solar observations during the day and night time skywatching after sunset.

Noted Tellus chief astronomer David Dundee will narrate a program Star Walks live during two shows at 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. on Saturday.

Be sure to bring a camera and the family to both locations for fun activities and historic items in the two museums, including Fernbank's Apollo 6 space craft and a full scale replica of the Wright Brother's flyer at Tellus.

You can visit the Tellus Science Museum's web site for visitor information to plan your trip.

If you live in south Georgia and cannot make it to metro Atlanta, local backyard parties maybe just around the corner from you.

Parents and children can share wonderful memories together in their own yard with a telescope and an interest in star gazing. These shared moments will become exciting memories of their childhood in which their education will build upon.

Families explore real science at Tellus Science Museum

Tellus Science Museum features a world of exploration. (Atkeison)

Science and nature come to life as dinosaurs and space exhibits take center stage at the world-class Tellus Science Museum located in northwestern Georgia.

Opened in January 2009, the science museum is affiliated with the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C., and home to four main exhibit areas -- the Science in Motion Gallery, a rocks and minerals gallery, the Fossil Gallery and breathtaking Planetarium.

The Science in Motion exhibit features vintage models from over 100 years of transportation.

A full-scale model of the Wright Brother's Flyer fills one room as it overlooks some of the first automobiles and motorcycles from the turn of the 20th century.

A recreated burned-out shell of the Apollo 1 command module -- used in the Tom Hanks HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon -- is featured in the exhibit. The module was used in the film to dramatize the January 1967 Apollo launch pad fire which claimed the lives of three astronauts during a launch pad practice countdown.

Adjacent to the module is a model of the Mercury spacecraft which carried the first Americans into space fifty years ago on May 5; and an actual tire used by the space shuttle Atlantis as she landed in 1996.

Beautiful paintings based on the space shuttle program by historical artist Mort Kunstler line the center's walls providing a decorative look at the personal side of NASA's human space flight.

Across the hall, the museum's 120-seat Planetarium is located near the main entrance and offers a variety of astronomical shows every forty-five minutes.

A digital projector in the domed room gives visitors a unique prospective as they soar upon the ocean of space and past galaxies during a detailed narrative show.

Tellus will celebrate national Astronomy Day on Saturday, May 7 with a full slate of activities for kids and adults alike.

Gaze up at earth's closest star, the Sun, in a safe way through Tellus' telescope, and end the day with star gazing views during two shows at 9 p.m. and 10 p.m.

Tellus recently joined a small NASA network of meteor watching camera's designed to spot and record incoming meteors from below 100 miles high as they near the earth's atmosphere.

The science museum's astronomy program manager David Dundee noted the first meteor was tracked by the new Tellus camera on March 17, just two hours after the camera became operational.

"We're seeing two to four meteor events every night," Dundee explained to this aerospace reporter. "The camera is triggered by a light in the sky, and begins tracking" with the other three regional cameras which back up one another as if to say it is not a plane or other object.

Tellus' new camera on the sky can help NASA determine the "direction, speed and orbital plotting of where the meteor came from in our solar system," Dundee added.

It demonstrates how Tellus has become a working science center in partnership with the space agency's location at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville.

Funding for the camera comes from NASA's astronaut safety program, which helps calculate meteorite impacts on orbiting space craft.

Images are relayed to Marshall in real time via an Internet line and studied by engineers to understand the space rock's nature.

Rocks and minerals are a favorite item of Tellus' employees as they work in what was a former mineral museum beginning in 1983.

Rocks and fossilized items are on display in several exhibits around the museum.

Tellus' Fossil Gallery is a favorite for children as they stare up at 41-foot Tyrannosaurus rex poised in a walking stance, or use specialized brushes to discovery fossils located beneath 'dirt'.

A 13-foot long Eremotherium laurilardi, also known as a giant ground sloth, is also on display cast from the bones discovered in Daytona Beach, Florida.

In fact the skeletal make-up of several land and water creatures are displayed giving visitors an in depth look at the mammals and fish from long ago.

Children can uncover real shark's teeth and stones as they search for the rare fossil treats in one section inside the museum. Nearby visitors can pan for colorful stones embedded in beach sand located in a water trough.

Located northwest of Atlanta just off exit 293 and I-75 in Cartersville, this science museum is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The center is closed on July 4th, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Years Day.

As summer vacation time approaches, Tellus is a fun-filled, inexpensive option for those looking for a short day trip with the children.

Please visit the Tellus web site for the latest on membership, guest pricing, directions and schedule information.

As you conclude your visit and depart, be sure to take note as your child's head turns back one last time as the world of science educates their minds for learning.

Science and flying inspired Eric Boe to aim high

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle astronaut Eric A. Boe grew up in the Peach State involved in sports and flying planes while having a strong focus on science and education.

Boe will make his second trip into space as pilot of the space shuttle Discovery tomorrow on a voyage to resupply the International Space Station.

Born in Miami, Florida, his parents moved soon after to a home in east Atlanta, a city which became a launching pad for his future goals in life.

"I grew up in Atlanta, and it had a big influence on me," the 46 year-old Air Force Colonel said. "It kind of put in motion the kind of goals and objectives, and obviously the schooling was a real important part of having the opportunity of working here at NASA."

The seeds of science and flying were planted in his life's ambitions as the Apollo astronauts explored the moon in 1969.

"I remember specifically when the moon landings happened," Boe recounted. "I was 5 years old and I remember my parents calling me into the room and telling me 'Hey, watch this. This is really important stuff.'"

Sports was a strong foundation while attending Henderson high school in metro Atlanta in the early 1980's.

"I enjoyed soccer. I participated in cross country and I also was on the wrestling team," Boe said proudly of his high school career.

But one person helped give the young lad the gift of science.

"I had a teacher at Fernbank Science Center which is in my local community, Debbie Huffman," Boe discussed. "She works encouraging youth in aviation and other scientific fields so she really helped me out along the way."

Mrs. Huffman continues her long career at Fernbank today.

Boe also served as a cadet in Georgia's Civil Air Patrol, which promotes aerospace education and emergency management including search and rescue. The north Atlanta resident received the Patrol's highest honor, the General Carl A. Spaatz Award.

At 16, he flew solo for the first time as a part of the CAP. "That was my first real opportunity to fly an airplane by myself," Boe remembers. "CAP gave me that opportunity." He continues to serve and support the Florida branch of the Civil Air Patrol.

Upon graduating from high school in 1983, Boe left Atlanta for the United States Air Force Academy, and four years later received a Bachelor of Science in Astronautical Engineering.

The Air Force called upon Boe and his 60th Fighter Squadron based out of Eglin, AFB in Florida, for duties in Kuwait and Iraq during Operation .

A flight commander for the F-15C, Boe and his crew would fly fifty-five combat missions across southern Iraq in 1994. A year later, he returned home to Atlanta.

Ten years after completing his first degree, Col. Boe received his Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Tech, located just twelve minutes from his boyhood home.

That year also included a trip out to Edwards, AFB in California and the Air Force's Test Pilot's school. While living at Eglin, Boe was selected as a pilot astronaut during July 2000, while at the same time his wife Kristen and Eric were expecting a son.

During the years of astronaut training and assisting with future spacecraft design projects at the Johnson Space Center near Houston, Boe left for a year in Star City, Russia to serve as NASA's director of operations at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center.

Then while on a working trip at the Marshall Space Flight Center in 2007, Boe received the call he had long waited to hear.

Boe remembers the day so clear, "The chief of our office, Steve Lindsey, called me up on my cell phone and I was talking to him and he goes, “Hey, how would you like to fly on STS-126?” It was a great day."

During the second half of November 2008, Col. Boe made the trip of a lifetime when he spent nearly sixteen days in space, including over a week spent docked at the space station.

"I did get the chance to see the Atlanta area in space, and one of the things that was pretty cool was that they were having a Georgia Tech game," Boe said of his flight aboard Endeavour. "The shuttle actually flew over the top of Atlanta, and we were looking down while they were looking up and they actually talked about it at the football game."

Boe and his crew made the November 20 night time pass over northern Georgia as Tech played ACC rival Miami in a game shown on ESPN. And, yes, Georgia Tech later won 41-23 that night.

On Thursday, Lindsey will command Boe and four mission specialist astronauts on a nearly two week mission aboard Discovery.

Boe will become the last person to serve as pilot aboard the storied spacecraft on this, the thirty-ninth and final flight of Discovery. As the mission winds down, Boe's focus will turn toward space station undocking.

Boe will get the chance to 'fly' Discovery in a 360-degree revolution around earth's orbiting outpost before firing twin engines to separate and begin the crew's return trip home.

(Charles A. Atkeison reports on aerospace and science. Follow his updates on social media via @Military_Flight.)