Event Celebrates Oklahoma’s History In Space

The 50th anniversary celebration of the Apollo 11 moon landing continued Sunday at Science Museum Oklahoma.

Congresswoman Kendra Horn was among a panel of science experts who talked about Oklahoma's past contributions to space and what's in store for the future.

We contribute in so many ways and Oklahoma’s history in aeronautics and space is incredibly rich and diverse and only continuing to grow,” said Rep. Kendra Horn, (D) Oklahoma’s 5^th District.

The event on Sunday celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first landing on the moon with newly displayed artifacts from Apollo 10 and 11 inside its Destination Space exhibit. The items are from the collection of Oklahoman and Apollo 10 Commander Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Stafford. Exhibits include a half-scale lunar lander, pop culture artifacts, an Apollo fuel cell and service propulsion engine, original artwork depicting the moon landing, and more.

“We've had an Oklahoma astronaut in every phase of the program and no one else has had that,” said Bill Moore, a space historian.

Oklahoma also had a huge presence of scientists and engineers behind the scenes.

“At one time during the Apollo 11 mission, we probably had eight or nine Oklahomans in the mission control room itself,” Moore said.

Being named on the House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee, Rep. Horn is now focused on the next frontier.

“We're looking at the next program which is Artemis, going back to the moon and to Mars and beyond and in making sure that we are able to set the policy that will help get us back there into deep space exploration,” said Rep. Horn.

Much of the event was spent talking with kids, to get them interested in careers in space, science and technology.

“It's a great time for young people to be looking to the future in space,” said Moore. “There's a lot of jobs out there in the engineering field, stem education is perfect for that.”

If you missed the weekend events at the Science Museum, you can still catch “Apollo 11: For All Mankind” inside the Kirkpatrick Planetarium at noon Monday through Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sundays through Labor Day.

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