The date for the 2009 Space Camp Hall of Fame has been set!

Mark your calenders for July 11, 2009.

Nominations are currently being solicited at:

http://www.spacecamp.com/details.php?cat=Hall&program=Nominations

Additionally, Space Camp wants your suggestions with the planning!

I have been critical in the past because the first Hall of Fame event was a very formal affair and it was held far away from Space Camp.

The second year was better in that the tickets were cheaper, the dress code a bit more relaxed, and it was held back home at Space Camp. Still though, it was a bit too formal in nature.

The third time might just be the charm, but it’s up to you! Post your suggestions as to what you think would make the best Hall of Fame / Space Camp celebration to date!

What would make for an appropriate guest list? Should they try to get William Shatner back again, or should someone a little closer to Space Camp MC instead?

What sort of food should be served? Entertainment options?

Discuss all of these points and more in the HabForum!

Konrad Dannenberg passed away this morning.

Konrad Dannenberg was, of course, one of the original German rocket scientists to have come over from Peenemunde with Wernher von Braun shortly before the end of World War II. He was 96 years old and is survived by his wife, Jackie.

The Huntsville Times has a short writeup, as does WHNT.

There will be a memorial service at the Davidson Center at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center at 2pm this Friday.

In the 1980s, Konrad Dannenberg could often be found at the Space Center giving lectures to the campers.

In his memory, here’s a video from 1987 of Konrad Dannenberg taking an Adult Space Academy group on a tour of Rocket Park.

Couldn’t justify spending $150 for a ticket to the Apollo Anniversary Gala? No worries! You can still see it live over the web!

From Al Whitaker, the Media Relations Director at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, here’s how it’s going to go:

For those of you sitting in front of your computers Saturday night, surf over to www.spacecamp.com and look for the link for the live streaming webcast of the Year of Apollo Gala from the Space & Rocket Center.

They're putting us up around 5:30 or 6PM, and the program starts at 7PM. It will only last about 90 minutes or so, but you'll get to see one of the last of the Mercury astronauts, Scott Carpenter, along with Dick Gordon, Alan Bean, Owen Garriott, Joe Kerwin, Jack Lousma, Walt Cunningham and several others. Dr. George Mueller, who was the head of NASA's Office of Manned Space Flight during the Apollo program will be there.

We "found" THE original concept drawing of Skylab that Mueller sketched (it has been hanging in a man's den for about 40 years) and we'll unveil that, plus the Apollo 12 Mobile Quarantine Facility (which we also literally found in a field behind an abandoned fish hatchery in South Alabama), has been completely restored and will be unveiled. All in all, if there's even a little bit of a space geek in ya, you'll love it!

And from home, you'll have the best seat in the house!

Also, if you’re in the area tomorrow, there will be a book signing at the Space & Rocket Center open to the general public. From Space Camp’s Calender of Events:

All Proceeds from the sale of signed copies of Homesteading Space: The Skylab Story will be donated to the Skylab Restoration

Cost of book will be $80 and signed by authors David Hill, Astronaut Owen Garriot, and Astronaut Joe Kerwin as well as Homer Hickman and astronauts Alan Bean and Jack Lousma

Also featured will be The All-American Boys signed by Astronaut Walter Cunningham and Space signed by Roger Reid of Discovering Alabama

Art and collectibles signed by artist Paul Calle

Tomorrow’s a big day at the Space & Rocket Center! And I really can’t encourage you enough to spend the $80 if you can. The Skylab mock-up has been rotting outside of the Space & Rocket Center for some years now and the all-volunteer effort to restore it has met resistance at times (from the Space Center itself, oddly enough). Proceeds from the signing will no doubt go a long way to getting such a wonderful artifact restored and back to presentable condition.