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FORTVILLE — David DeFelice stood before a crowd in the Media Center at Mt. Vernon High School, rocket replicas and a space suit visible in the background.
“The Apollo program is really a stunning demonstration of our nation’s willpower,” the NASA Glenn Research Center spokesman said. “…It’s an inspiration that has really lasted through the generations and continues to inspire today.”
That was clear last week as those who attended the opening night of “Apollo and the Next Giant Leap” took in the space equipment, models and information making up the exhibit.
The exhibit, split between the high school and the Main Street Arts at the Carnegie Gallery in Fortville, celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Apollo program’s moon-bound missions. It will be on display until Dec. 13.
Lacey Willard, co-founder of the Main Street Arts at the Carnegie Gallery, said the gallery reached out to the Glenn Research Center in Cleveland about a year ago.
“We were looking for an eclectic story to tell,” Willard said.
Fortville came together more than 100 years ago to start the Carnegie library and bring culture to the community, she continued. The historical building continues that mission a century later through exhibits like NASA’s, she added.
DeFelice said when the gallery reached out to the Glenn Research Center, it just so happened to be preparing the mobile exhibit commemorating Apollo, whose crewed flights occurred from 1968 to 1972.
The gallery couldn’t accommodate all of the exhibit’s parts, however, so some of them were set up at the high school.
“It’s a unique opportunity to have an exhibit like this in a school,” DeFelice told the Daily Reporter during the exhibit’s opening night on Nov. 6. “We don’t normally do that… It’s just a great opportunity to reach the students.”
When it comes to the science of outer space, most students’ education comes from textbooks, photographs and perhaps some hands-on labs, he said.
“We want to show that this is the payoff,” he continued, motioning toward the displays. “This is when great minds work together.”
The exhibit doesn’t just commend Apollo’s historic achievements, but looks forward as well, DeFelice said. The Artemis program plans to land the first woman and next man on the moon by 2024 and establish a permanent presence there by 2028 before setting sights on Mars.
DeFelice said the moon holds enormous potential for testing technologies and performing unprecedented science.
“When we went there for Apollo, we literally just scratched the surface, and we have so much more to learn from the moon itself,” he said.
He also hopes the exhibit helps inspire generations of astronauts to come.
“Some of the kids who go to Mt. Vernon schools could possibly be some of the astronauts that go to Mars in the future,” he said.
Renee Oldham, executive director of the Mt. Vernon Education Foundation, told opening-night attendees that the displays help the foundation meet one of its goals of providing relevant, real-world experiences.
“And thanks to this NASA exhibit, we’re going to probably have to modify that to ‘out-of-this world,’’’ she added.
Attendees gravitated toward the star of the show — a piece of a moon rock — on display for opening night only. At just less than half of a pound, the 3.7-billion-year-old rock was among the 842 pounds of moon rocks Apollo 15 astronauts brought back in 1971. John Oldham, a NASA exhibits specialist, no relation to Renee, was on hand to talk about the rock and myriad other moon-related topics.
Drew Stock attended the exhibit’s opening night with his 7-year-old daughter, Sabine, a Fortville Elementary School student. He said he enjoyed speaking with NASA representatives and learning about new technologies.
“It’s not every day that a moon rock comes to our town,” he said.
He noticed others were equally impressed.
“It’s its own inanimate star of the show,” he said. “It doesn’t do anything, but it attracts so much.”
Sarah Cruz, McCordsville, came with her daughters, 10-year-old Jade and 9-year-old Jordyn. The Gas City native was also captivated by the moon rock.
“I’m from an even smaller town than McCordsville,” she said. “Things like this just don’t come up. It’s not an opportunity.”
Greg Rollo, director of technology for Mt. Vernon schools, visited the exhibit with his daughter, Emily, a junior at the high school. They visited the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral years ago and were excited to see the opening night’s rock star as well.
Emily said she was also fond of a scale model of NASA’s space launch system.
“I think that was very cool to see,” she said. “That’s one of my favorites.”
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“Apollo and the Next Giant Leap”
Free, available through Dec. 13
Media Center, Fortville High School
8112 N. 200W, Fortville
7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday
Non-students, ages 18 and older will need to scan their state identification card through the district’s visitor management system.
Main Street Arts at the Carnegie Gallery
115 N. Main St., Fortville
1 to 4 p.m. Saturdays, or by appointment by messaging gallery’s Facebook page
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