Flying to the moon is a dream for many, reality for only 12. Buzz Aldrin, the lunar module pilot on Apollo11, is one of the lucky. On July 21, 1969, he walked on the moon following mission commander Neil Armstrong. The Swedish American Museum in Chicago is celebrating Buzz’s Swedish heritage with new permanent exhibit, “Exploration: Buzz Aldrin, Space Visionary,” at the Brunk Children’s Museum. They will blast into space for the first time on October 27th 2013 and children will be able to imagine what it would feel like to be an astronaut when they count down to blast off, collect moon rocks, and explore the moon. Click here for details about the Buzz Aldrin Exploration Exhibit Launch. Not only was Buzz’s mother’s maiden name Marion Moon, his Swedish ancestors on his fathers side came from Stjernsforsbruk, which means “The Mill at Star’s Rapids”!
Over the summer, we had our own blast off at the glimling office and launched a rocket ship funflector reflector! White and red rocket ships are available in the funflector webshop and at the gift shop at the Swedish American Museum. Hang them on jackets and backpacks to inspire big dreams and to increase your visibility in traffic at night. Reflectors are must-haves for Halloween and all other dark nights – and there a quite a few of them ahead.
We can’t write about Swedish astronauts without mentioning Christer Fuglesang. He was the first Swedish citizen to go into space when he blasted off with the STS-116 Space Shuttle mission on December 10, 2006. He was also the first engineer and physicist in Sweden with a rock star status, which was amazing to witness. Even preschoolers knew everything about Christer’s space walks and his record of keeping a frisbee floating longer than anyone else. What an inspiration for kids who hadn’t given much thought to science and engineering before!
We have one more amazing image to share below! Look (you might need your glasses) how the earth and our moon are hanging out together with no close neighbors. It’s taken by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft close to Saturn.
Dream big and stay safe!
The funflector team
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