HUTCHINSON — The Cosmosphere has landed four more VIP’s for a December event that will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 8 moon mission.

Mimi Meredith of the Cosmosphere confirmed to Hutchpost.com that Apollo 7 astronaut Walt Cunningham, Apollo 16 moon walker Charlie Duke, and Apollo 17 moon walker Harrison Schmidt, will all be in attendance for Earth Rising. Meredith also announced that flight controller Glynn Lunney, will also attend. The impressive guest list also includes Jim Lovell of Apollo 8 and Apollo 13; Fred Hase of Apollo 13; and flight controllers Jerry Bostick and Jerry Griffin. Meredith comments on the dedication their guests have to the museum and science center:

 

The Earth Rising event is a major fund raiser for the Cosmosphere and will be held December 1 at the Kansas State Fairgrounds. The Apollo 8 mission continues the run of 50th anniversaries for the Apollo moon program that will culminate with the 50th anniversary celebration of Apollo 17 in 2023.

The Apollo 8 mission was key in the race with the Soviet Union to the moon, as the plan was originally to make the mission a test run. When spy satellites detected a large Russian moon rocket on a launch pad, the United States decided to go for broke and take Apollo 8 along with astronauts Jim Lovell, Frank Borman and William Anders to the moon. The crew arrived to the moon in late December and took the famous photo of the earth rising over the lunar surface on Christmas Eve.

Tickets to Earth Rising go on sale for Cosmosphere members October 15, and the general public October 29.