Tonight I attended the evening BBQ Banquet. A couple of weeks ago we chose which astronaut's table we wanted to sit at and I picked Bruce McCandless (no particular reason). When I showed up tonight, not only were the tables assigned, but also the seating placements around the table. Imagine my surprise and excitement when I sat down and saw that Bruce was supposed to be sitting right next to me. His wife, Bernice also joined him.
They've been married 50 years. He proposed to her three times before she finally said yes. He was a naval officer at the time and she said she didn't want to live that lifestyle, knowing that he was probably going to be in the limelight. But he kept pursuing and she finally gave in. I can tell you, they seem so much in love. He waved affectionately to her when they entered the room so that she could find the table. They talked about who was going to get what at the buffet. And at least once during the presentations I saw him put his hand on her back and give a little rub. They were incredibly cute. At one point in the evening, I asked Bernice if she was ever scared when Bruce went up on a mission (he flew two shuttle missions). She said she was more excited than nervous because she knew how much he wanted to do it.
Bruce was an incredibly gracious man. He answered all of our questions with joy and didn't seem put off at all by people asking him the same things he's probably been asked a million times before. He added on some extra stories about his thoughts on Mars, the future of space travel, etc. Just a genuine, down to Earth (pardon the pun) guy. He even gave a fist bump to one of the other people at the table. When they were leaving, I thanked them both for taking the time to join Spacefest and join as at the banquet. Bernice said, "Oh, we love doing this stuff." It shows.
Aside from the two shuttle missions he flew, he was also the first man to do a spacewalk untethered. You may have seen this picture before.
That's Bruce.
After the banquet, there was a Star Party outside on the grounds of the hotel. I think there were about 8 or so telescopes set up to look at different objects in the sky. I got to look at Saturn again, a binary star system, a globular star cluster, and another galaxy. I went back multiple times to some of the telescopes as I just couldn't get enough.
I can't believe it's all over tomorrow. I don't want to leave. It's like I've been in a completely different world here (again, pun not intended). I've learned more than I thought I would, I've experienced things beyond my wildest dreams. It is an experience I will carry with me always.
Overheard quote of the day: "That nebula looks like a vag."
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