Astro Walt Cunningham

A brief roundup of the Walt Cunningham series of events –

Day 1.

Walt Cunningham and his lovely wife Dot jetted into Heathrow Terminal 5 on the morning of 23 September. They had been delayed on the ground in Houston for some three and a half hours. A car journey to Walsall in the West Midlands followed.

We arrived at the Town Hall to some waiting reporters. A photo shoot and a video interview for the Express & Star newspaper followed.

A short journey by train into the heart of Birmingham had been arranged for Walt to be interviewed on BBC radio WM.

Once out of the interview another interview this time over the phone with the Walsall Advertiser.

Back then to Walsall by train and then a short car journey to the Walsall Astronomical Society who meet regularly at the social club of Rushall Olympic football club. Their regular meeting had been brought forward and they had arranged for a display of lunar meteorites and NASA moon rock on loan for an Apollo themed evening. Club members did not know that Walt Cunningham was an invited guest.

Walt answered questions from the group for about an hour; members took full advantage of their special guest with a broad range of questions from Apollo to climate change, Mars missions and beyond. If you know Walt he pulls no punches and tells it like it is.

Walt Cunningham Visit Day 2.

Day 2.

An early start up to the National Space Centre at Leicester. Here Walt was given a brief tour of the centre. Start of the first signing session of his book, the All American Boys.

A prearranged visit followed where staff and pupils from the Whitfield Valley Primary Academy, Stoke-on-Trent asked numerous questions to Walt he answered all of them and was keen to engage with the children and ask them a few questions of his own.The school motto – Be the best you can be struck a particular chord with Walt.

Walt and his wife Dot perform charity work with the Be An Angel Foundation at home in the U.S. and enjoy interacting with children.

A brief stop for lunch and Walt was into the Sir Patrick Moore planetarium, a NASA video was used, it described the start of the space race and linked the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo Programs. Lasting approximately 15 minutes the video connected the Apollo era and the ensuing Q&A session nicely together.

Walt on top form answered all of the prearranged questions from attendees and eagerly followed this with random questions from the floor. This could easily have run over as Walt was keen to answer everyone who had a question and there were plenty of them.

The presentation was followed by a further book signing and then a photo shoot with the Leicester Mercury newspaper.

Another photo op this time with National Space Academy Space Engineering students. They are currently on a course, details of which can be found here:  National Space Academy they had attended Walt's lecture/Q&A and were excited to meet him and have a photo with him.

A rest day in readiness for ‘Dine with an Astronaut’ evening event at the Village Hotel in Walsall, sparkling wine and canapes, with a professional photo opportunity, dinner followed by a brief auction and autograph signing.

Walt Cunningham Visit Day 4.

Walt Cunningham with BBC Radio WM Paul Franks, courtesy of the BBC.

An audience with an Astronaut – Walt Cunningham at Walsall Town Hall. A photoshoot opportunity was followed by a brief introduction for Walt.

He presented us with a new lecture entitled ‘ The Golden Age of Apollo’. Walt drew on historical aspects of the sixties and the place of the Apollo program within that. He examined why we explore, the need to explore and the benefits to society as a whole.

A short Q&A session followed with an autograph signing for anyone interested, which was everyone, Walt patiently signed to the last.

Trade stands from Spaceboosters Limited our main sponsor were available to peruse, so to a stand managed by space author Dave Shayler and his wife Bel from Astro Information Service (AIS) with a selection of books, CD’s and some calendars. There was also a display promoting the Walsall Astronomical Society.

What the papers say!

We had some good newspaper coverage before and after the event, some of it featured here. We did not manage to get the story from the Leicester Mercury so have included their online coverage here.