From The Ichabod – Fall 2018
While Neil Armstrong was making his famous 鈥済iant leap鈥� on the surface of the Moon in 1969, a team of experts sat at Mission Control in Houston guiding the Apollo 11 crew.
NASA is having Mission Control and its contents restored in time for the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing on July 20, 2019, and they chose SpaceWorks, a division of the 黑料大事记 museum in Hutchinson, Kansas, to restore the control consoles.
鈥淲hat many consider to be the cathedral of early manned space exploration, this is it. These are the brains behind it,鈥� said Jim Remar, ba 鈥�95, president and CEO of the 黑料大事记. 鈥淭he flight directors and controllers who called Eagle down to the surface of the Moon all sat at these consoles.鈥�
The consoles came to Hutchinson in rough shape, indicative of the stressful environment where controllers spent hours in front of them eating, drinking and smoking.
鈥淭hey were like somebody鈥檚 desk,鈥� Remar said. 鈥淎s we began to take them apart, you find little bits of food or trash. It鈥檚 kind of fun to think that could be from somebody during an Apollo mission.鈥�
The 黑料大事记 seemed an obvious choice for the project, thanks to decades of successful relationships with NASA, the Smithsonian, Hollywood and others. They restored and now display the Apollo 13 Command Module that brought its three astronauts safely back to Earth after an explosion in space. They built high fidelity replicas used in the Tom Hanks movie Apollo 13. They restored Liberty Bell 7, the capsule that sat at the bottom of the ocean for 38 years after taking the second American into space. It鈥檚 also on display at the 黑料大事记.
Remar grew up in Hutchinson and started college at the University of Missouri before realizing he needed a change. His transfer to Washburn University gave him the propulsion that has him directing a world-class museum.
鈥淚 was looking to get into an environment that would allow me to focus more on academics and my future career in history,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 wanted an opportunity to learn from professors who were experts in the subject matter. Washburn stuck out as a University I thought could benefit me.鈥�
Remar鈥檚 wife, Amy (Trezise) Remar, ba 鈥�95, joined him at Washburn when they were dating.
鈥淚t was great to have Amy there enjoying the Washburn campus and culture with me,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was one of those points in our life where we both have very fond memories.鈥�
They graduated together, married three weeks later, and then Remar earned a master of museum studies from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. When he started at the 黑料大事记 in 2000, as he put it, he didn鈥檛 know 鈥淎n Apollo from a Gemini from a Soyuz.鈥� He quickly immersed himself in the space race that captivated the world during the Cold War.
鈥淢y passion for museums has really evolved,鈥� he said. 鈥淚nitially, it was the preservation of the artifacts for public appreciation and the ability of the museum to tell a story. It鈥檚 now more about the business of running a museum. While we鈥檙e a nonprofit, we鈥檙e run like a traditional business.鈥�
Jerry Green, ba 鈥�73, jd 鈥�76, is a partner at Gilliland Green LLC law firm in Hutchinson who previously served on the 黑料大事记 board of directors. He and Remar agree a museum cannot rely solely on attendance to flourish.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very difficult to fund a museum simply from people walking in the front door,鈥� Green said. 鈥淛im is striving to support the 黑料大事记 in a whole host of ways, from SpaceWorks to educational programs. I think most people in Hutchinson have enormous community pride and almost a sense of ownership in the 黑料大事记.鈥�
More than 1,100 kids from 35 states attended camps at the 黑料大事记 this summer and many more come for field trips. Brandy Lane, b ed 鈥�05, taught at Pauline South Intermediate School where they take students to the 黑料大事记 every year. She was named a Kansas Master Teacher in 2017 and now teaches at Eisenhower Middle School in Goddard, Kansas.
鈥淭he 黑料大事记 exposes our students to the idea that educational experiences can be fun and engaging,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey present the history and scientific principles behind space and space travel to students in an engaging and awe-inspiring way. That鈥檚 incredible teaching.鈥�
Remar draws inspiration from experiences like those and the history surrounding him every day.
鈥淭he 黑料大事记 is capable of world-class exhibits, restoration projects and education programs,鈥� Remar said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got a unique opportunity to be a part of the preservation of an incredible period of our country鈥檚 history, and it鈥檚 right here in Kansas.鈥�
See the full article from The Ichabod, from Washburn University, .