Nike Zeus

Michigan (?), Summer 1961. We saw the missile during one of our trips to an air-and-space show.

Related by Marriage: Explorer

Los Angeles, California, about 1962. Mr. Irene's Los Angeles Cousin contemplates the future.

Thanks to Los Angeles Cousin for making this photo available to us.

The Unused Score ...

... for 2001: A Space Odyssey.

"Even those who actively dislike Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, for instance, would surely agree that its every last audiovisual nuance serves its distinctive, bold vision — especially that opening use of 'Thus Spake Zarathustra.' "

Forty-Five Years Ago

Suburban Chicago, July 20, 1969. Here's another "screen shot" Dad took during the broadcast of the moon landing.

In case you didn't notice.

Today is the anniversary of the moonwalk.

Adler Planetarium

Chicago, Illinois, January 1961. We've arrived at Adler Planetarium, and it looks like we're about to visit another space exhibit.

Congratulatory Call

Suburban Chicago, July 20, 1969. My Dad sometimes photographed views on the television screen that weren't restricted to my childhood crushes. Here's an image of President Nixon congratulating the astronauts during the moonwalk.

O'Hare in the Early Days

My childhood home stood less than a fifteen-minute drive from O'Hare. The home was on a runway path, and I used to sit in the living room bay window and read the airline logos on the plane's tails as they landed.

But O'Hare was a military airport before it became a commercial airport. The early 1960s were a time when everyone was interested in space, airplanes, and the Air Force. As a result, I visited many exhibits dedicated to flight and space travel.

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Suburban Chicago, Summer 1962. O'Hare has opened some of its areas for a civilian viewing.

Air Show

Michigan (?), Summer 1961. On our way home from a vacation at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, we stopped at an air show that featured exhibits about the U.S. Air Force, Cold-War defense, and space exploration. 1961 was a big year for "space" things, and I got my fill of rockets, jets, and missiles.

The Museum of Science and Industry

If you're a regular visitor here, then you know that I spent most Sundays at Brookfield Zoo.

Occasionally, my Dad would take us to one of the "big" museums in the city. Although a trip downtown always was an adventure, I sometimes felt shortchanged by the brilliant museums. I was more interested in interacting with animals than in visiting static exhibits.

The Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, Illinois, June 1961. We visit the NASA exhibit. The area is crowded; we are here just one month after astronaut Alan B. Shepard, Jr. flew to space.

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The Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, Illinois, June 1961. Frustration. If we can't go to the zoo, then can we instead at least visit The Field Museum?