Peoria to the Moon
On July 16, 1969, 57 years ago today, millions of people around the world watched as NASA’s Apollo 11 mission lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, beginning humanity’s first successful journey to the Moon. At 9:32 a.m. Eastern Time, astronauts Commander Neil A. Armstrong, Lunar Module Pilot Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin, Jr., and Command Module Pilot Michael Collins departed Earth atop a Saturn V rocket, embarking on a mission that would forever change human history.
Four days later, on July 20, more than 600 million people watched as Neil Armstrong became the first person to step onto the lunar surface and spoke the words that would become part of history:
“That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.”
The successful Apollo 11 mission fulfilled a goal that many had once considered impossible and demonstrated what could be achieved through imagination, education, scientific discovery, and determination.
CENTRAL ILLINOIS CONNECTIONS
The Apollo 11 mission is not only a story of astronauts and rockets. It is also a story of the thousands of scientists, engineers, technicians, educators, and visionaries whose work made the mission possible – including several whose journeys began right here in Central Illinois.
Among those who contributed to America’s space program was Peoria-born Albert Siepert Jr., deputy director at the Kennedy Space Center (1963-1969), a graduate of Peoria High School and Bradley Polytechnic Institute (now Bradley University), who played a role in the engineering efforts that helped make lunar exploration possible.
Like countless others who worked behind the scenes, Siepert reminds us that historic achievements are rarely the work of a few famous names alone.
Central Illinois is also connected to another important chapter in the history of American space exploration through NASA’s first Black astronaut, United States Air Force Major Robert H. Lawrence Jr., a Bradley University graduate and Air Force test pilot, who made history on June 30, 1967, as the first African American selected to train as an astronaut in a national space program.
Lawrence was tragically killed in a training accident before reaching space, but his pioneering achievements helped open doors for future generations of astronauts.
The region’s connection to space exploration continued with United States Navy Captain, ret., and former NASA astronaut Scott Douglas “Scooter” Altman of Pekin, Illinois.
Scott Altman, who was born in Lincoln, Illinois, flew four Space Shuttle missions, logged more than 51 days in space, and commanded two missions that serviced the Hubble Space Telescope.
Visitors to the Peoria Riverfront Museum can explore artifacts and memorabilia from Altman’s remarkable career in the Dome Planetarium lobby, including his flight suit, offering a firsthand connection to a Central Illinois native who helped advance humanity’s exploration of space.
Incidentally, Altman, an F-14 Tomcat pilot, performed many of the aerial stunts in the original 1986 “Top Gun” movie, including the famous tower buzzing scene.
Museum visitors can also experience a remarkable connection to Apollo 11 through a full-scale, three-dimensional replica of Neil Armstrong’s Apollo 11 spacesuit, made from an exact 3D scan of his original suit.
On July 20, 1969, Armstrong wore the original suit as he took humanity’s first steps on the Moon. Decades later, the suit underwent conservation by the Smithsonian Institution, allowing specialists to create a highly detailed three-dimensional scan from which this replica was produced.
Because the original suit is extraordinarily fragile, the replica offers one of the best opportunities to appreciate up close the remarkable engineering that helped astronauts survive and work on the lunar surface.
Suspended in the Peoria Riverfront Museum lobby is Museum of the Moon, an exacting sculpture of the Moon commissioned by the museum and created by internationally acclaimed British artist Luke Jerram.
Jerram used detailed high-resolution imagery captured by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter for the sculpture, which is illuminated from within, allowing visitors to encounter the full 360 degrees of the Moon, including its rarely seen far side.
Visitors can explore the Moon not simply as a distant object in the night sky, but close-up, as humans have explored and continue to study it.
As we commemorate America’s 250th anniversary, the story of Apollo 11 reminds us that the American experiment has always been about more than preserving liberty. It has also been about expanding the boundaries of knowledge, discovery, and human potential.
From Albert Siepert’s contributions to the Gemini and Apollo eras to Major Robert H. Lawrence Jr.’s pioneering achievements as the first Black astronaut to Captain Scott Altman’s Space Shuttle missions to the museum’s world-class planetarium inspiring future generations, the legacy of space exploration remains alive in our community.
We invite you to visit the museum to view Luke Jerram’s Moon, Neil Armstrong’s spacesuit, and the planetarium gallery to see Scott Altman’s flightsuit and experience these connections to America’s journey into space for yourself.
