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Galactic Gathering
July 21, 2023 - July 22, 2023
GALACTIC GATHERING
This 2-day event will be memorable for all, with special appearances from Astronauts Joe Allen, Tony England, Kevin Ford, Jerry Ross, and Charlie Walker. There will also be a guest appearance from actor Joel Johnstone, who played Mitchell astronaut, Gus Grissom, in the popular TV series, “Astronaut Wives Club”
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS
Friday, July 21
6:00 pm – “Friday Night Feast” held at the Mitchell Community Building (101 Tom Green Dr, Mitchell, IN)
*Tickets are required and available to purchase now
Saturday, July 22
11 pm – 3 pm – Free Tours Through the Grissom Boyhood Home on Grissom Ave.
*Tickets are not required.
1 pm – 3 pm – Photo Opportunities with all special guests
*Tickets are required and available to purchase now
6 pm – “Saturday Night Symposium” held at the Mitchell Opera House in Downtown Mitchell
*Tickets are required and available to purchase now
Learn about the astronauts:
- Joe Allen was a mission specialist on STS-5 (November 11-16, 1982) and STS-51A (November 8-16,1984) and has logged a total of 314 hours in space, including the first space salvage attempt in history with an untethered space walk. The crew successfully retrieved for return to Earth the Palapa B-2 and Westar VI communications satellites.
- Tony England was selected as a scientist-astronaut by NASA in August 1967. He subsequently completed the initial academic training and a 53-week course in flight training at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas, and served as a support crewman for the Apollo 13 and 16 flights.
- Kevin Ford served as Director of Operations at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, from January to December of 2004. From January 2005 until July of 2008, Ford served as a space shuttle and International Space Station Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM) in the Mission Control Center, working shuttle missions STS-115, STS-116, STS-117, STS-120, STS-122 and STS-123, as well as International Space Station expeditionary stage operations.
- Jerry Ross flew as a mission specialist on STS-61B (1985), STS-27 (1988) and STS-37 (1991); was the Payload Commander on STS-55/Spacelab-D2 (1993); and served as a mission specialist on the second space shuttle to rendezvous and dock with the Russian Space Station Mir, STS-74 (1995), the first International Space Station assembly mission, STS-88 (1998) and on another Space Station assembly mission, STS-110 (2002). A veteran of seven space flights, Ross has more than 1,393 hours in space, including 58 hours and 18 minutes of EVA on nine spacewalks. He was the first human to be launched into space seven times.
- Charlie Walker accompanied the McDonnell Douglas CFES equipment as a crew member on Space Shuttle missions 41-D, 51-D, and 61-B, accumulating 20 days of experience in space and traveling 8.2 million miles. Aboard these Space Shuttle missions Mr. Walker also performed early protein crystal growth experiments and participated as a test subject in numerous medical studies.
Various events will be offered, for a cost, throughout the historic city of Mitchell to support the Grissom Boyhood Home.
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS
See also:
Astronauts in Lawrence County
Virgil I. Grissom Memorial
Grissom Monument
