Where were you when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon? You’ve probably been asked that question and heard many answers today, as we mark the 50th anniversary of that event.
Out of the blue, I received the following memory today from Lisa Wilson:
In the summer of 1969 my best friend, Jane Conable, and I were 12 year old campers at May Flather. It was our first time sleeping in a platform tent, eating (and cleaning up!!) in a mess hall, and searching for snakes along wooded trails. It was also our first and only time getting woken up in the middle of the night to sit around the campfire circle gazing into the cool blue light of a black & white TV set that had been connected to an outlet via a long, LONG extension cord so that us privileged “older” campers could watch the moon landing live. We had to watch in total silence so as not to wake the younger campers and that spectacular silence still rings in my ears today whenever I think about Apollo 11. The juxtaposition of nature and technology was breath taking.
The Star Gazer badge was introduced in 1920. Since then, astronomy and space science badges have been created for every age level.
The years of encouragement have paid off.
GSUSA CEO Sylvia Acevedo credits her Brownie leader with fueling her interest in space. That interest led to a degree in engineering and job with NASA. (Read about her career in her book, Path to the Stars: My Journey from Girl Scout to Rocket Scientist.)
In 2019, the renowned SETI Institute collaborated with GSUSA on badges for middle-school and high-school aged girls.
Nearly every female astronaut has been a Girl Scout, a fact that led NASA to create this splendid poster:
This week NASA set a new lunar goal: to return to the moon by 2024, with at least one female astronaut on board.
Chances are, she’ll be a Girl Scout.
©2019 Ann Robertson, writer, editor, Girl Scout historian.
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