Hi

My name's Dave Reneke. I returned a couple of weeks ago from a 4 week tour of the United States and had the best time. You are a terrific country with great friendly people and some amazing stuff to see!!

I made so many new friends and everyone I met was so helpful. Two of those people were Tom and Trish Savage from Merritt Island, Florida (met them on forum) who picked me up from the airport and welcomed me into their home, putting me up for over a week.

They drove me around and pointed out scenic places I’d only ever read about and I had a great time. Tom and Trish insisted on paying for everything and could not have been more helpful. We enjoyed a day out on the beautiful Florida waters and Tom and I took in the Space Center and tons more stuff…what a buzz!!!

For those interested, here's an overview of my travels to the space and astro centres of the USA - a prelude to a series of stories I'll be writing in our Southern Hemisphere magazine, Sky and Space.

I originally went to attend a world press conference for Richard Branson’s new company ‘Virgin Galactic’, and the unveiling of his new concept spacecraft ‘Spaceship-2’ - heralding in private space travel for the general public within 5 years.

I also visited several key space sites across America and was later invited to have morning tea with Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the Moon, at his home in Beverly Hills, California.

Philadelphia was my first stop on January 21, along with a number of accredited Virgin Galactic travel agents from around the world, to meet Branson and to later inspect a scale model of his spaceship in New York. I also attended the agents debriefing sessions, the only media representative allowed to do so, and was accorded an unprecedented honour, to ride in the special astronaut training centrifuge at the Nastar Centre headquarters.

This is the closest thing to actually taking the spaceflight. It simulates almost exactly the roar of take-off, the acceleration through the atmosphere and the return to earth. Virtual reality screens stun you with exactly what you'd see in orbit.

I took 3.5 G’s before almost blacking out and could feel the blood draining from his head. Amazing, it’s something I'll never forget. I am the news editor for Sky and Space magazine and was the only representative from the world media selected to take the ride.

The Kennedy Space centre beckoned so I headed for Florida and spent a week there with Tom and Trish inspecting the visitor centre and photographing several of the original launch sites for a series of articles I'll be writing for the magazine. After passing the necessary security checks, and under NASA escort, I was allowed to inspect a few areas not normally open to visitors, thanks to the Savage’s hard work.

One of these included the new ORION assembly building, the name for NASAs upcoming replacement for the ageing Space Shuttle fleet. I also met famed astronaut Story Musgrave .

Besides writing for Sky and Space magazine I also teach astronomy at college level, write for several major Australian daily newspapers and run my own Astronomy outreach program for Australian schools

After visiting Kennedy, I headed down to the Florida Keys for 3 days at the Winter Star Party. Over 600 telescopes and as many people attending. Thanks Tom Clark, Charlie Warren, Fred and Lucille, Ron Ravenberg, Tim Khan and so many others for your friendship and help. I wanna go back again!!

It was then across to Arizona to take in a visit to the world famous ‘Meteor Crater’ in Flagstaff Arizona with Ron Boe from Arizona, another forum junkie. Ron drove me from Phoenix to Flagstaff and stayed with me all day when we visited meteor Crater. He and his wife Sue were just a few of the nice, friendly people I encountered all throughout your great country.

I was invited to spend a few nights at the historical Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff and managed to peruse the actual documents and glass plates used by Clyde Tombaugh when he discovered Pluto there in 1930. I also saw the original drawings of Percival Lowell, the observatory’s founder, and a man who all his life claimed he could make out canals on the planet Mars.

Finally, before returning home, I received a call from Buzz Aldrin’s office inviting me to visit Buzz at his home in Beverly Hills, California.

The interview went extremely well and I managed to uncover quite a few interesting facts about the launch of Apollo-11 back in 1969 and learn many new things about how Buzz and Neil Armstrong coped on the lunar surface.

All in all, a great holiday and thank you America.
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Dave Reneke
News Editor
Sky and Space Magazine

WoW! Sounds like a great trip. On behalf of the U.S.A., you're welcome.

And you met Buzz Aldrin! How cool is that!

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Glad you had a good time. It's good to hear someone speak positively about us Yanks once in a while.

I've met Story Musgrave too. He is certainly an interesting man. Count yourself lucky!

I've got some mates downunda. If I ever get down there I'll try to make contact with you.

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Sounds like a beaut trip... USA is a great place for folk with our interests to visit. (I have always been a closet Yank lover....)

Thanks for sharing.

Wow. I'm jealous. Sounds like you had a great time and met some wonderful people.

Any chance you'll post a link to the resulting article?

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Back at you! Australia is awesome!

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