September 10, 2010 Space, Locks and Friends

“That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Our first stop today was to the Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum in Wapakoneta, Ohio, Neil’s hometown.  The museum honors him and many of the other Ohioans who have contributed to flight.

On the outside was a replica of the Apollo Command Module – this module carried the three astronauts (Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin, and  Michael Collins, who remained in the command module) to the moon and back.  It was used in all the Apollo missions from 1969-1972; is 10’7” tall; 12’10” in diameter; and weighs 13,000 lbs.

 

Can you imagine living in these tight quarters for a few days????

This is a replica of the Gemini spacecraft that carried Neil Armstrong and David Scott into space in 1966.  It is 19’ long, 10’ in diameter and weighed 8360 lbs.

Andy and I checking it out – talk about close quarters – :-))):

   

The real Gemini VIII spacecraft that was flown in 1966.

 

There was a few simulators there – Andy trying the docking procedure:

 

He crashed (so did I) – :-).  If the space program were left up to us, well, we would have a lot of wreckage around – LOL!!

This is Neil Armstrong’s back up suit – it weighed 190 pounds on earth but only 32 pounds on the moon:

There had a really neat interactive “brick” that we were able to lift, showing what it weighed on earth and then on the moon – WOW!!  I guess we would need new healthy weight tables for the moon (otherwise I would be underweight – HA).

Some neat moon facts:

 

And an actual moon rock:

With some facts:

 

How about this?  We are NOT alone!

It was a really neat museum – lots of different things to read, exhibits of actual or replicas, and a number of interactive stations.  We thoroughly enjoyed it!

Our friends, Tom and Karen, were camping nearby (we met them at Hueston Woods SP, Ohio, in May) and we were able to meet for lunch.  It was great seeing them again and getting caught up with each other.  We hope to get together again next week when they will be in Elkhart and we will be in Goshen.

 

The Miami and Erie Canal runs thru this part of the country so on our way back to the campground we decided to visit a few of the locks on one of the aqueducts.

From brochures and the internet:

“The Miami and Erie Canal was a canal that connected the Ohio River in Cincinnati, Ohio with Lake Erie in Toledo, Ohio. It consisted of 19 aqueducts, three guard locks, and 103 canal locks. Each lock measured 90 feet (27 m) by 15 feet (4.6 m) and they collectively raised the canal 395 feet (120 m) above Lake Erie and 513 feet (156 m) above the Ohio River. The peak of the canal was called the Loramie Summit and extended 19 miles (31 km) between New Bremen, Ohio to lock 1-S in Lockington, north of Piqua, Ohio. The system consisted of 301.49 miles (485.20 km) of canal channel and was completed in 1845, at a cost of $8,062,680.07. Boats were towed along the canal using either donkeys or horses walking on a prepared towpath along the bank. The boats typically traveled at a rate of four to five miles per hour.

During the construction of the Miami and Erie Canal, it was a center of disease, and drunken violence.  Irish immigrants, convicts, and local farmers used picks, shovels and wheelbarrows to relocate the dirt and clay. This dawn to dusk labor brought in a wage of 30 cents a day.  The canal was hand-dug to a minimum width of 26’ at the bottom and 40’ at the waterline.

During the active life of the Miami and Erie Canal, canal boats made transportation of passengers and goods possible from Lake Erie to the Ohio River.  Passengers fees were 2 to 3 cents per mile, with the hauling of freight costing 2 cents per mile per ton with fees going down to 1.5 cents on trips over 100 miles.  The canal boats traveled 4 to 5 miles per hour and could be up to 14 ft. wide.”

Some of the locks:

The Canal:

One of the aqueducts:

What is an aqueduct?  Well, any bridge or viaduct that transports water—instead of a path, road or railway—across a gap.

So in this case, this part of the canal:

 

Was transported over this river:

Pretty fascinating!!

On our way back to the car from the aqueduct, we saw this stone.  Wonder what the story is behind it?

 

When we got back, our neighbors, Mike and Carole were enjoying the beautiful weather so we joined them and had a great time chatting.

 

What a nice day…

Tomorrow we head to the Escapade in Goshen, Indiana.