By Melanie Petrucci, Senior Community Reporter
Northborough – “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Those are the immortal words of Neil Armstrong, Apollo 11 astronaut, as he was the first to set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969, shortly after the module, the Eagle, landed in the Sea of Tranquility on the moon’s surface.
The Northborough Free Library recently opened a special exhibit of artifacts, photos and memorabilia to commemorate the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the first lunar landing.
The exhibit opened on July 16 which was the anniversary of the day that Apollo 11 was launched from Cape Kennedy with Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin aboard.
Local Northborough resident Tom Moore was there at Cape Kennedy when Apollo 11 was launched. While on a student co-op at the Marshal Spaceflight Center in Huntsville, Ala., he worked on a project involving the study of seismic waves. He went to Cape Kennedy with a team of fellow students and installed a seismographic instrument at the launch site.
“My particular task when Apollo 11 blasted off was to turn on the seismograph and walk away and be quiet. I was a closer than anybody else on the entire base to Apollo 11 that wasn’t inside of a building,” he remarked.
He returned to Huntsville, with the findings from the installed seismograph, in time to watch the lunar landing four days later.
Tom’s wife, Dana Moore began her co-op from the University of Cincinnati in the winter of 1968, also at the Marshall Spaceflight Center. She worked on components for some of the early satellites. She witnessed the launch of Apollo 13.
“Tom and Dana provided on loan some of their personal photographs and memorabilia, that’s what this exhibit is,” Christopher Lindquist, the library’s director said.
Lindquist also pointed out newspaper clippings from his own father’s collection from “The Hartford Times,” that were included in the exhibit.
Of note in the exhibit is a photo signed by Wernher von Braun, the legendary German-American aerospace engineer and pioneer of rocket technology. Dana said that she had the opportunity to meet him while on her co-op.
The exhibit is located in the main meeting room on the first floor of the library and there are other displays through-out including the entryway and on the second floor. A Scavenger Hunt is also available for all to engage in to learn more about the space program.
The exhibit will run through Friday, Aug. 30.
For more information, visit www.northboroughlibrary.org.
Photos/submitted
