The Bernasconi's

Race to the Moon – Saturday Night

With the Friday night Race to the Moon event over (which you can read about here), I had time to relax by the pool with the wife since the Saturday event did not start until 5 p.m. Even though it cooled down a little, I still dreaded having to get dressed up and putting on my rented tuxedo.

A little before 5 p.m., I finally began the drive over to the USS Midway, a little later than I should have left. I arrived late but I still made it there before some of the other escorts. Once they all arrived (including the new escort who learned of her job the night of), we did a final walk-through and then had some time to goof around in the hangar deck (as you can see in the pictures below).

At a little before 6:30 p.m. we (the escorts) headed down to the parking lot to meet the V.I.P.s. When Al Worden (Apollo 15) and his wife Jill arrived and I took them up to the V.I.P. area set up on one of the sponsons (an area that hangs off the side of a ship and is normally used to store stuff) aboard the Midway. While they chatted with their astronaut friends, I enjoyed a cool drink and waited for the other V.I.P.s to arrive. As they arrived, they all began talking shop until it came time for them to walk over to L3 (one of the elevators used to move the airplanes from the hangar bay to the flight deck) and make their grand entrance.

Jill and I (we were on a first name basis by then, such good friends) headed up to the flight deck and chatted by L3 as we waited. As the elevator slowly began to make its way up to the flight deck, the Marine marching band began playing the theme song from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Once they reached the top after a 5 and-a-half minute ride, fireworks went off and revealed the astronauts to the awaiting crowd.

Jill and I tried to make our way through the packed crowd to meet up with Al, but the procession quickly walked away from us and towards the table area. We finally met up with him because he did not know where to sit; however, I did. I took them to their table, took some photos of people with Al, and then headed to Table 1 to sit enjoy the really good meal (I even ate some of the fish and the dessert had cookies shaped like the moon and stars).

As we sat and ate, the International Space Station with the docked Discovery Shuttle and local San Diegan astronaut Rick Sturckow flew over. It was the first time I have ever seen it (most of the time it passes over at 4 in the morning) and definitely one of the highlights of the evening. The joke afterward was to thank Charles Bolden, the new NASA Administrator and Race to the Moon V.I.P., for realigning the Space Station to fly over.

The moon at first hid from us in the clouds which led us to some postponements but once the cloud cover dissipated enough, it was time to get the show started and I walked over to table 27 and picked up Al and escorted him back stage for the big show preparations.

While waiting backstage, I had a chance to talk to Fred Haise (Apollo 13). Both he and I needed to use the restroom and so I showed him the way and after we finished doing what needed to be done, he took some pictures of the restroom for his son who served on the Midway and then made a joke about how he suggested to his wife that all wiring and plumbing in his house should be on the outside for ease of repair just like the Midway's but the wife laughed the idea off. After spending that 10 minutes with him, all I can say is that Fred Haise is awesome and friendly, I mean it.

Once the show started I sat back at Table 1 to enjoy it. Charles Bolden gave a speech on the importance of what these men had done and future space travel. Then the astronauts took the stage and were awarded the American Patriot Award medals. After the medal ceremony concluded with a few words from Bill Anders, fireworks shot off the tower of the carrier to end the evening.

The fireworks were my cue to head backstage and wait for Al to finish with pictures and to come off the stage. Jill also made her way backstage and when we all joined up together, we headed down the Midway to their waiting town car. Once they got in the car, Al asked me to mail back his medal and stand. I tell you it was hard not to put on the medal and wear it later when I met up with some friends at the Blind Lady Ale House.

With the astronauts now departed some of the SDASM crew and I enjoyed a celebratory drink and then went our separate ways (and by separate, I mean I dropped some of them off at the hotel and then I headed home). Even though I technically worked both nights, I must say that I had a great time, met some great people, and this is definitely one of the reasons why I enjoy working at the San Diego Air & Space Museum.