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8 MAY/JUNE 2024 SPORT ROCKETRY rekindled for the Apollo 17 50th "First and Last Steps" Gala event. Weather on Friday of the event was warm, mid-70s, with winds gusting to 45. It was a good day to have our display in- side, right next to the Cosmosphere Cafe. ere was a steady flow of very interested and very interesting onlookers. e con- versations reeked with space enthusiasm. Also stopping by to visit were: • Harrison "Jack" Schmitt and his wife Teresa Fitzgibbon—the last man to step foot on the moon as Apollo 17 Lunar Module Pilot and the only true Geologist to walk on the moon • Charlie Duke—Apollo 16 LM Pilot and Apollo 11 Lunar Landing Capsule Communication (the only person on a planet of 4.6 billion people to have direct communication with Neil Arm- strong and Buzz Aldrin during their lunar descent) • Milton Windler—Maroon Team Flight Director and Lead Flight Direc- tor for Apollo 13 and all three Skylab missions. Wow!! Friday evening saw 450 people gather at the Kansas State Fair Grounds for the "First Steps, Last Steps" Gala dinner event. ere were opportunities to hear the honored guests speak of their storied experiences being a part of the Apollo and Space Shut- tle programs and later mingle with them. John Palmer and Dave Kovar had pur- chased tickets to that event. John Palmer took the opportunity to get a photo with Alan Shepard's daughter Laura who re- cently got her own ride into space aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket named aer her father. Saturday was a very different weather day. e 70 degree temperatures and 45 mph winds were gone, replaced with tem- pertures in mid-aernoon in the low 40s but the winds were almost totally gone. e launch was set to begin at 4:30 and just like clockwork cars began to pour into our field, the large parking lot of the Kansas State Fair. Even as the temperature edged into the upper 30s about 60 spectators gathered to watch. Up first was a historic NASA-themed scale model launch. Vari- ous modelers from KOSMO filled the pads with rockets. Before they were launched however, DJ Wyant thrilled the crowd with picture perfect flight and landing of his R/C SR-71. If you've ever visited the Cos- mosphere, as you enter the front door, you are stunned by an actual SR-71 filling the lobby. at was followed in mostly chrono- logical order: V2, WAC Corporal, Juno I, Little Joe I, Mercury Redstone, Mercury Atlas, Little Joe II, Gemini Titan, Saturn IB, Saturn V, New Shepard, and finally the SLS. anks to KOSMO members Steve Ham- November 2012: Apollo 17 Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt with students at the Apollo 17 40th Anniversary STEM event at the New Mexico Museum of Space History in Alamogordo, New Mexico. e Lunar Module Ascent Stage in the photo was used at the NASA White Sands Test Facility for the initial testing of the ascent stage engine. Photo Courtesy of the New Mexico Museum of Space History. Gliding parachutes have the advantage that they can be steered, which means that you can bring them back to yourself instead of just letting them drift in the wind. Additionally, they are more efficient than a round parachute, so a smaller chute will give you a slower descent rate. Check them out today @ ApogeeRockets.com/Gliding-Parachutes E X P E R I M E N TA L RC Controlled Gliding Parachute allows you to pick the landing spot!