THE FATHER OF THE U.S. SPACE PROGRAM ~ BORN ON THIS DATE IN 1912

 Wernher_von_Braun,_German_rocket_pioneer-SPL

Wernher von Braun  was a German born rocket scientist, engineer, space architect,
and one of the leading figures in the development of rocket technology in Germany  
and the United States during and after World War ll. A former member of the Nazi  
Party and a commissioned SS officer, von Braun would later be regarded as the 
preeminent rocket engineer of the 20th century in his role with the U.S. civilian
space agency NASA. In 1955, ten years after entering this country, Von Braun
became a naturalized citizen. He lead the development of the Saturn V booster
rocket that helped land the first men on the Moon in 1969. Von Braun received the
National Medal of Science in 1975. He died on June 16, 1977 of pancreatic cancer 
at the age of 65. 

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life  werner von braun

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REESE WITHERSPOON IS 35 YEARS YOUNG TODAY

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Reese Witherspoon landed her first feature role as the female lead in the film
The Man in the Moon in 1991; later that year she made her television debut, in
in the cable movie Wildflower. Witherspoon appeared in the critically acclaimed
Election (1999), which earned her a Golden Globe nomination. She was in the
box office hit Legally Blonde in 2001. In 2005, Witherspoon received worldwide
attention and praise for her portrayal of June Carter Cash in Walk the Line,
which earned her an Academy Award, Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Screen
Actors Guild Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

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Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash and Reese Witherspoon as June Carter in Walk the Line

Freeway1996poster
1996

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THIRD MOON LANDING ON THIS DAY IN 1971

            apollo14patch
apollo-14 crew main

Apollo 14 was the eighth manned mission in the Apollo program , the third to land on
the Moon. It was the last of the "H missions", targeted landings with two-day stays on
the Moon with two lunar EVA’s, or moonwalks. The crew for the nine-day mission included , from left to right, Lunar Module Pilot Edgar Mitchell, Commander Alan
Shepard, and Command Module Pilot Stuart Roosa. Shepard and Mitchell made their lunar landing on February  5 in an area originally targeted for the aborted Apollo 13 mission. During the two lunar EVS’s, 93 pounds of Moon rocks were collected and several surface  experiments were conducted. Commander Shepard hit two golf
balls while on the lunar surface with a make-shift club he brought from Earth.

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       Commander Alan Shepard hitting a golf ball on the lunar surface

       golf 
                          Autographed golf ball used by Shepard

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FORMER ASTRONAUT IS 81 TODAY

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Buzz Aldrin , retired United States Air Force pilot and astronaut who was the Lunar Module pilot on Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing in history. On July 20, 1969, he was the second human being to set foot on the Moon, following mission commander Neil Armstrong.

Aldrin on the moon
                                       Aldrin on the Moon

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A CHRISTMAS MESSAGE FROM SPACE ON THIS DATE IN 1968

Apollo 8 crew
           The Apollo 8 Astronauts, from left to right,were mission Commander
            Frank Borman, Lunar Module Pilot William Andres, and Command
            Module Pilot James Lovell. After coming out from the back side of
            the Moon,the crew read ten verses of the book of Genesis from the
            Bible. This was during a Christmas Eve TV broadcast, a portion
            of this broadcast is below.

                     apollo 8 logo
the earth from apollo 8
        The crew members of Apollo 8 were the first Americans to directly
        see the far side of the Moon and the first humans to see the planet
        Earth from beyond it’s low orbit.

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