Space Cadet

How does a young lady who grew up during the late 60's and early 70's in Northern Utah, wind up in the Air Force as an Aircraft Maintainer? When I was a kid, most girls wanted to grow up, get married and have kids. Some may have wanted something different but they stayed within very traditional lines. I am the only girl from my graduating class that joined the Air Force, and I was part of a huge class. At least part of my choice can be blamed on the space program and my Dad's enthusiasm for it. My Dad loved air planes. He had a license to fly and along with some buddies owned a small aircraft that ran a charter service at one time.
I believe that he sold his part of the business when he married my Mom.
He was also quite nuts about the space program. I was just tiny when we first walked on the moon, but I do remember it. My Dad made a big thing about it. He was so excited. I specifically remember him saying that this was history and
someday, I would be glad to remember it. He was so right. Thanks Dad! Once he even let us stay up late on a school night to watch something on the news.
When Sky Lab went up it was even better. I remember laying on the lawn with him, looking through his binoculars at the moon and looking for Sky Lab. I still have those binoculars.
I have no idea what my Dad would have thought about me joining the Air Force and working in a mostly male career field. He was rather old fashioned. He died when I was 14. My Mom was always proud of me. I like to think he would have
been too.
As you can probably tell from the photos. We went to Coco Florida on Spring break. We went to the Kennedy Space center which includes several different attractions. We spent two full days there and still did not see everything (we skipped some things that were designed for little kids and a couple of rides).
The first photo in this set is a space suit. There is a reflection from another display that looks like a halo. The Lunar Module is Kitty Hawk from Apollo 14. Launch control is at the Kennedy Space center, this is the actual room where the Apollo missions started. The photo of me at the desk is taken in another part of the museum. I like it! The fourth crew member was their computer. Most modern calculators have more brain power than this whole computer. The picture shows just the interface. Hope you enjoyed this, I sure did. We had a blast but it is good to be home. Next week, Flowers!
Kat