So I am sitting here, outside, on this fine Labor Day weekend, and a bit bored. It is too nice out to be inside working with plastic, so here I am. I noticed this campy thread and I just had to respond. Besides, the forum seems quiet of late.
I like space too. I grew up in the 60s and it was awesome to watch the developing U.S. Space Program. I was just a little too young to know the first launches, but I could surely appreciate the missions from 1967 on. Around that time my Dad purchased a cheapo telescope, a Sears special. Once the fascination with it wore off with my 4 older siblings, I gained full control of this little gem. I would spend many a night looking at the moon. In a great wonder, I looked to the astronauts and their eventual landing. I had a moon chart that came with some toy, of which, I can no longer remember. The point being... the chart was awesome in that it referenced all the craters and their names. I spent many an hour locating said craters while looking through that scope, like a mad little scientist.
During that time I built two Saturn V rocket kits. I made such a mess of the first build, I later bought another one to do better. Well, it was not much better, but it was fun to try. I also built a Lunar Lander. I had a lot of fun with that little guy. I made an opening in the bottom section of the lander, filled it with fine sand, and pretended that that the sand exiting the engine bell was the engine jet. The backdrop was a simulated lunar landscape. I had used a shallow clothing box that was filled with fine sand. BTW. The sand was like fine powder. I used a flower sifter to seperate the sand into a fine powder. Don't ask me how I thought this up, I have no idea. The landing pads of the LEM left nice little impressions in the stuff.
One more thing. It was during one of the missions, which one I do not recall, that our astronauts were on the moon. I was looking through the telescope one evening when I noticed a light passing in front of my view. I could not believe it. It was the Command Module orbiting the moon. The sun was reflecting off of its shiny finish. I had the strongest eyepiece on the scope at the time, so it just so happened to be the perfect scenario to catch a glimpse. I tracked it little further but I quickly lost it. With the power of that eyepiece, the movements were in the macro, and it was almost a miracle that I came across it.
So what is the point in all this? I LOVE SPACE, and those were the Wonder Years.
Steve