Meet the leader of the Apollo Moon Missions Thursday

Texas State University students, faculty and staff are invited to meet “the Astronaut Maker,” Dr. George W.S. Abbey, at the Fall Lecture at the LBJ Museum of San Marcos on Sept. 26 at 6 p.m., 131. N. Guadalupe St.

Dr. Abbey’s talk on “Fifty Year Reflections on Apollo” will focus on how the United States achieved the first moon landing in history, 50 years ago on July 16, 1969. 

The former Director of the Johnson Space Center, Dr. Abbey was a key figure in the first flight to the Moon. The event, with a reception and distinguished lecture, is free and open to the public. Sponsors include the LBJ Museum and Texas State University’s Political Science Department and the College of Science and Engineering.

During the Apollo 11 mission, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed their lunar module and walked on the lunar surface, while Michael Collins remained in lunar orbit in the command and service module. 

All three landed safely on Earth on July 24, 1969. Five subsequent Apollo missions also landed astronauts on the Moon, the last in December 1972. In these six spaceflights, twelve men walked on the Moon.