Spreading Wings Gala 2015: Honoring the Legacy of Apollo 13

This 2015 Spreading Wings Gala honored the Apollo 13 astronauts and Flight Director Gene Kranz and recognized several other astronauts and aviators at the annual signature event held November 14 at Wings Over the Rockies Museum at Lowry.

Emcee and Aviatrix Amelia Earhart of 9News welcomed some 800 guests and oversaw a live auction during the evening with music provided by Spinphony, a 5-member pop fusion string group. Guests heard the story of NASA’s finest hours in overcoming challenges and reaffirming America’s destiny to explore space.

Wings Over the Rockies President/CEO Greg Anderson and board member John Barry, CEO of Denver Metro Boys & Girls Clubs, thanked the crowd for their support and provided an update of new construction of the Exploration of Flight facility to be built at the Centennial Airport in Englewood and have experience- and flight-based activities, including a “tower of flight” and four levels of observation decks.

Jeppesen CEO Mark Van Tine introduced aerobatics pilot Sean Tucker, who later in the evening oversaw a question and answer session with Apollo 13 Flight Director Gene Kranz and Apollo 13 astronauts Jim Lovell and Fred Haise. Near the stage stood a replica statue of their Apollo 13 comrade Jack Swigert, who passed away of cancer in 1982.

The Apollo 13 mission was commanded by James Lovell with Jack Swigert serving as Command Module Pilot and Fred Haise as Lunar Module Pilot. It was intended to be the third moon landing for the US. The spacecraft launched on April 11, 1970, at 1:13 Central Time from Kennedy Space Center but the lunar landing was aborted after an oxygen tank exploded two days later making a moon landing impossible. Thanks to the training, quick thinking, ingenuity and perseverance of those in Houston and in space, the astronauts returned to earth safely on April 17, 1970.

Gene Kranz’s infamous words of “Failure is not an option” pretty much exemplified Houston mission control’s efforts to rescue the astronauts who were losing oxygen after an oxygen canister exploded well into the spaceflight. As told in books and a popular movie the three astronauts used the lunar module as a lifeboat and improvised objects within the spacecraft to help filter carbon dioxide and maintain a dwindling supply of battery life to function.

Guests were shown movie clip moments from the 1995 “Apollo 13” movie with astronauts Lovell and Haines and Kranz recounting their thoughts and feelings during those stressful days.

Through Saturday, February 13, 2016, Wings Over the Rockies will be hosting the Apollo XIII exhibit which honors the legacy of the Apollo XIII mission through a vivid, historic journey of artifacts and pictures selected by curator Matthew Burchette and research librarians. Items include a battery charger and a 70mm Hasselblad film magazine flown on the Apollo XIII mission and many artifacts from the Apollo XIII movie starring Tom Hanks. The exhibit is free for Wings Members but General admission rates apply for non-members.

For more information visit www.wingsmuseum.org.