Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Space Pioneers Meet for Monthly Luncheon in St. Louis Following Recognition at International Conference

By Carmelo Turdo
Members of MAC's Old Team, a group of retired McDonnell Douglas employees who designed and built America's Mercury and Gemini spacecraft, met for their monthly luncheon at The Corner Pub & Grill in Chesterfield today following their May 27th appearance at the International Space Development Conference.  At the conference, members of MAC's Old Team participated in the Saturday Panel Presentation with astronaut Thomas Stafford and they received the National Space Society 2017 Space Pioneer Award for Special Merit. 




























The luncheon usually serves as a casual way for these aerospace pioneers to visit and share the latest personal news, and occasionally visitors attend to give some updates on local projects or events of interest.  Today's general topics of interest were the recent conference award, the construction at The Space Museum in Bonne Terre, MO and the upcoming solar eclipse.  Here are some views of today's luncheon:

Group organizer Norm Beckel reads to award to the group




Chuck Poplstein visited from The Boeing Company 


St. Louis Space Frontier members celebrated a successful conference

Dean Purdy gives an update on the Space Museum construction

Members of MAC's Old Team frequently participate in community outreach events at The Space Museum and other venues, and are reticent to seek recognition for their contributions to the early U.S. manned space program and the subsequent advancements in the aerospace field.  The Aero Experience is privileged to recognize these American space pioneers as a national treasure, and celebrate their recognition by the National Space Society.

1 comment:

Claire from Oklahoma said...

Great pictures! And thanks for good coverage of some events I missed because there was so much else to see.