Coffee at the Cosmo - January 20, 2011

Coffee at the Cosmo on Thursday, January 20, is entitled, “The Sacrifice of Exploration: Tragedy in Spaceflight.” It is at 9 a.m. at the Cosmosphere and is free and open to the public.

This time of year is the anniversary of three major disasters in the space program. The Apollo 1 fire happened on January 27, 1967. Challenger exploded on January 28, 1986. Columbia broke apart on reentry on February 1, 2003.

Astronauts have always known exploration carried risks, and accepted them willingly. Gus Grissom said just a few weeks before he died in the Apollo 1 fire, “We hope if anything happens to us, it will not delay the program. The conquest of space is worth the risk of life.”

At the coffee this month we pay tribute to the brave men and women who paid the ultimate price so we could explore and learn.

Coffee at the Cosmo is an ongoing series of free presentations at the Cosmosphere. It’s the third Thursday of every month at 9 a.m. and is always free. Enjoy coffee and pastries, meet new friends, and learn something new.

Upcoming Topics Include:
February 17, 2011 “Snoopy Soars with NASA: Exhibit Preview”
March 17, 2011 “Going Green in Space”
April 21, 2011 “First in Space: Yuri Gagarin and 50 years of Russian Spaceflight”

The Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center is a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing patrons' knowledge of space exploration. Educating people from around the globe, the Cosmosphere boasts the Hall of Space museum, one of the most significant collections of U.S. and Russian space artifacts in the world; the Justice Planetarium, a dome-shaped classroom where attendees learn about astronomy; Dr. Goddard's Lab, a live demonstration of early rocket technology; the Carey IMAX® Dome Theater, one of the first ones built in the world; and summer astronaut training camps. For more information visit cosmo.org.