My son, Jared, and I were on a drive from Dayton to Toledo, OH. We wanted to stop for a quick break and we found the perfect place, Wapakoneta. The town is home to Neil Armstrong, the first man to step foot on the moon. That moment and the other space missions are celebrated within the walls of the Armstrong Air & Space Museum. Our visit was educational and entertaining plus it sparked great conversation for the rest of our trip together in the car. What could be more perfect?
Museum Background
The museum sits so close to Interstate 75 that you can see it from the highway. I had thought about stopping numerous times, however the timing was never right. Today, we had time and the desire to explore, so we stopped in. We were very glad we did.
This is a great place to stop if you have kids. The museum is easily accessible and not too large so it matches their attention span. The simple focus on space caters to kids and their fascination with the universe. It will get you out of the car for a bit, and for the price of going to the movies, you can have an afternoon in space.
The museum is dedicated to the subject of space exploration. Most other museums include space as a subset but is not necessarily the focus. This focus, especially leaving out airplanes, dramatically cuts down on the size of the museum. This is not the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force base in Dayton or the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. These are fantastic places to visit with huge displays. They are so big, in fact, you need all day or multiple days. This museum is much more focused and may be covered in an hour or longer, depending on how long you stop to read and inspect.
One Giant Leap
Upon walking in, you are greeted with a wall of astronauts. As I looked more closely at the pictures, I realized that a bunch of them were from Ohio. 24 Buckeyes were so excited to leave the state that I jettisoned themselves into outer space. Seriously, though, it is cool. As I walked through that area with my son, I said to him, “see, you can do anything. You can even travel to outer space.”
We wandered through the exhibits of equipment, gear, space suits, rockets, and everything else. As we did, we had difficulty imagining how these guys managed to get into space with this equipment? It did not look capable of accomplishing such a feat. I cannot imagine, not even for a moment, in getting into some of this machinery and blasting off a launch pad. That capsule below left fits two, full-sized adults. It is barely bigger than a refrigerator. It’s no wonder some people still believe the whole thing was a fake.
The museum is full of fun things to see, like space rocks, and do, like performing virtual rocket landings. You can even compete against each other for the best score of the day. We enjoyed watching the historic footage of Apollo 11 landing on the moon and Armstrong taking those historic first steps.
Splash Down
As we jumped back in the car and resumed our trip, Jared and I had plenty of conversation starters. For one, we explored the conspiracy theory of whether astronauts ever landed on the moon or if the whole thing was faked. We debated back and forth. If you are interested, recent space explorations have taken pictures of equipment left on the surface of the moon.
We also talked about the courage and deep passion these astronauts had for their mission. They were willing to put everything on the line in their pursuit of exploration and pushing the limits. Several of them, unfortunately, made the ultimate sacrifice. This was interesting to relate and relive these memories with my son. I will always remember that fateful day in 1986 when the Challenger exploded after take-off.
If you are passing through Wapakoneta and you have an hour or two, stop for a visit. Especially, if you have kids. You may arrive at your destination an hour later than scheduled, but your conversation for the rest of your trip will greatly improve. Isn’t that what it is all about?
If you are interested in reading more about Neil Armstrong and his career, I found this comprehensive article courtesy of the Washington Post.