Dining with an astronaught [Archive]

ragdoll cats

14 Nov 07, 10:21 PM

:wavey: Hi
Did this in June when we visited KSC. Enjoyed every minute of it and the food was good too.
Our astronaut was Charles (Sam) Gemar who flew on shuttle missions sts-38, 48, 62.
Has anyone else done this and can you remember which astronaut you had for the speech. :wave:

Gary :o:

Funky

15 Nov 07, 09:41 AM

We had the excellent John Blaha, STS-29, 33, 43, 58, 79 & 81 who also spent four months on Mir.

Waiting for KSC to update the info on the astronauts that will be there in January, we book our day to visit based on the who's there!

Nail queen

15 Nov 07, 01:39 PM

We have never been to KSC but our son is 6 so thought it would be worth a visit this year. Hubby was reading about this lunch in the Brit's guide last night and mentioned that we should do it!

It seems to be worth the money then. We don't know which day we will be visiting yet, was just gonna pay on the door that day and book the lunch as well, can we do that or do we have to do it in advance?

ragdoll cats

15 Nov 07, 11:39 PM

Hi :wave:
No we didn't book just turned up one morning and asked inside at guest relations and they booked us in for that same day lunch.
I think it was $22 each for a buffet lunch a large signed photo , a good film presentation followed by a question and answer part, then we could all have photos taken with astronaut.It all must have lasted about 1 1/2 hours at least.
We did exhibitions and rocket garden first then KSC tour after lunch but i think they are still doing second day free.

Gary :wavey:

glorfy

16 Nov 07, 11:14 AM

I did it as part of the ATX. Our Astronaut was John Fabien. There were four of us in total, so us John Fabien and our ATX guide sat round a table for 30 minutes :jump:

This was in 2005 and no shuttles had flown for a while. Being retired he didn't really tow the company line :pgig: and told us exactly what he thought on a wide variety of subjects!

I would love to do it again sometime, but after a first experience like that I'm sure it might be a little bit of a let down.

Oh and the food was OK as well!

The Wards

20 Nov 07, 05:55 PM

Hi
found this thread really interesting as the lunch with an astronaut is something i was pondering.
If anyone has any further details or care to share their experiances i would really appreciate it. Am back in Orlando at New Yearthis year and wonder if this was something i should try,.....?

Watchinherskip

20 Nov 07, 06:01 PM

Have not dined with one at KSC, but got to spend time with Donald Petit at a NASA workshop in Anchorage AK, in 2006. He was aboard the ISS when the the shuttle Columbia and her crew were lost. Very interesting guy. He is well versed in global atmospheric change which was the focus of our workshop.

http://aim.hamptonu.edu/outreach/AK-2006/overview.html

you can see him here.

Nail queen

20 Nov 07, 10:08 PM

Thanks for the info, much appreciated. Is on our must do list now. Think DS will be popular in school when he goes back and tells his classmates who he had lunch with ;)

Princie

20 Nov 07, 10:15 PM

We had a lunch with Don Peterson sts 6 only he was pretty dull to be fair

WindsorHillsPad

21 Nov 07, 02:16 PM

The Wards

21 Nov 07, 03:37 PM

When my family went at Easter Buzz Aldrin was there (not for lunch though). He reluctantly had his photo done with my son - what a grumpy git. He was there incognito and they only knew when they heard someone call him Mr Aldrin as he is getting on a little bit.

lol...have heard that Buzz is the 8th dwarf--ie: would have been included but they already had a Grumpy!!!

We were in USA a couple of years back when Buzz had walloped a journalist in the street who had cast doubt in an aside that the moon landing had ever happened. Alledgedly good ol' Buzz ,being the aged man, laid this fellah out on his back with a swipe to the younger mans jaw. USA immediatel acclaimed the man as a moon visiting hero defending his role and NASA and he was plastered all over the news....great story!!!!

Farcry66

23 Apr 08, 04:23 PM

Sorry tp ressurect an old thread but . . .

My hubby and my stepdad are not really into Disney, neither can go on many rides and aren't all that keen on America in general! It's a good job it's me and mum who plans our holidas then! lol

However, they do share an interest in all things spacey, Mum hates KSC and I;m not bothered either way, but as the men folk have agreed to what equates for them 23 days of hell, we thought we'd do this ungrudgingly :blush:

Anyway . . .

I was looking at the Dine with an astronaut thing and thought they and my nephew might enjoy it. I wondered if anyone could tell me how it worked. How many people does it accomodate? Do you think it is worth the money? Any advice ect?

wrpac00

23 Apr 08, 05:08 PM

I did the ATX in Aug 06, our guy was Story Musgrave. We were told he had been in space more times than any other person (STS-6, 33, 44, 51F, 61 & 80, great guy with great stories.

Farcry66

23 Apr 08, 07:54 PM

Is it a little bit like a character meal at Disney where there are lots of people and the astronaut comes and spends a couple of mins with your table? Or is it a little more intimate than that?

highlander447

23 Apr 08, 07:57 PM

I did the ATX in Aug 06, our guy was Story Musgrave. We were told he had been in space more times than any other person (STS-6, 33, 44, 51F, 61 & 80, great guy with great stories.

We had him too, what a life he led
Its a decent experience its not that big a group so it is more intimate

Farcry66

23 Apr 08, 08:04 PM

Sounds good, the date I am intending on going for they have Rick Searfoss. Has anyone done the meal with him?

summertime85

23 Apr 08, 08:26 PM

We did this last year and thought it was brilliant and really interesting. Our youngest son, who was 6 at the time, couldn't wait to ask a question during the Q&A session (which was really brave in a room full of adults). Our astronaut was John McBride.

suei

23 Apr 08, 10:23 PM

We also did the ATX in August 2006 and our Astronaut was also Story Musgrave. Were we there the same day as you wrpac00??!
My eldest DS "piloted" the shuttle in the simulated mission and managed to land it upside down - oops! We had a great day and would highly recommend it.

lynneandnick

23 Apr 08, 10:35 PM

my ds would love to do this, i will wait until he is a little older though

jdybnsn

23 Apr 08, 11:36 PM

We went in Feb 2006 and our astronaut was Winston Scott.

We really enjoyed this, and would recommend it to anyone. It consists of a nice buffet lunch (which actually the astronaut does not attend until the end of it !), then the astronaut gives a talk, followed by question & answer session. They let the kids in the room ask the most questions which normally makes it very entertaining ! Then the astronaut will pose for photos which you can purchase, though they are more than happy for you to take your own too.

Food was excellent value for money and includes cold soft/hot drinks- especially when you consider you will probably have to eat somewhere on-site during the day. :thumbs-up

highlander447

23 Apr 08, 11:47 PM

The best question is do u believe in Aliens? :D , must admit Story was very critical of NASA politics which surprised me, and he said you cant do the job without believing that theres something out there, he was seriously a very cool old dude, who really makes you wonder what did u do with your life

peter pan's mum

24 Apr 08, 09:25 AM

We had Charlie Walker who was very entertaining and informative. He really related well to the kids. My two DSs absolutely loved it. He also had a great sense of humour,
which helped to make the whole experience more engaging. I really thought it was going to be just ok, but it ended up being a highlight of our holiday. Oh! and the food was really good.:grin: Well worth the money.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b29/PeterPansMum/Disney2007591.jpg

Helmsdeep

24 Apr 08, 09:48 AM

We did this in March 08, the night othe shuttle went up. I can not remember who we had talking, I know I enjoyed the stories etc (off ill at the moment so brain not functioning well). We also saw the shuttle take off.

Now the food, was a breakfast (9.30pm!) style, the fruit was great, crispy bacon and greasy sausages not what I could eat. So the talk is great, the food is so-so. But lets be honest, we didn't go for the food.

wrpac00

24 Apr 08, 10:55 AM

suei

24 Apr 08, 09:58 PM

Yup, that was the day we did it! Did you do the space walk with a 12 year old? If so, that was our younger DS!
DH was an Environment Controller in the Control Room, & I was a Scientist with another guy & we did some experiments during the "flight" in a fume cupboard downstairs.
I wonder if you're in our group photo in the Rocket Garden with Story Musgrave?! What a small world!!