Dear friends and supporters of the Space Foundation,
Fifty years ago, this month, the world held its breath – hoping, praying and wishing for a miracle that would spare the lives of a crew stranded in the most hostile and remote of conditions.
Aboard a ruptured spacecraft, a three-man crew once bound for the moon found themselves in an epic race to survive against every conceivable obstacle imaginable. Their journey — the mission of Apollo 13 — was deemed a ‘successful failure’ given that the crew safely returned home to Earth. It was one of those moments that showed with ingenuity, skill, creative thinking and teamwork, even the worst odds can be beat and great things can still occur despite the most epic challenges.
Today we face a new challenge with the COVID19 pandemic. Government, scientists, businesses, nonprofits, and communities are stepping up together to save lives, and save livelihoods. Like every organization and business, the Space Foundation is facing unprecedented challenges but our commitment to our mission and to you has not wavered.
I would like to share with you a few of the ways the Space Foundation is handling this Apollo 13 moment:
- Donated critical supplies to frontline workers including gloves, surgical masks, foot coverings, and hand sanitizer.
- Kept our Space Foundation team intact with no layoffs as all of our team members are still with us (and working remotely) in support of our mission.
- Applied for relief funding through the CARES Act to continue to support our team, and you, during this crisis.
- Rescheduled the 36th Space Symposium, (October 31 – November 2) with our team moving full speed ahead in planning a revised program.
- Launched Auxilia, a virtual education platform, supporting teachers, parents and students with space inspired education lessons and activities.
- Moved our Discover Center to a virtual experience, providing families with inspiring and educational content and activities they can do together.
- Started ‘Space4U’ Live – transforming our podcast into a live video series, conducting interviews with great minds in the space community.
To move forward from this place of uncertainty and to get back to a place of normality will require that we all work together, globally, as a crew. When we support each other and use our skills, creativity, and ingenuity to collectively solve a problem, there is no obstacle that we cannot overcome together. Through the difficulty that the world is facing right now, our team is grateful to you for supporting our mission through the years. And your help is needed today.
Your gift, large or small, will ensure we continue to bring space-inspired education to you whether that is at home, at Space Symposium, via our Discovery Center, or in virtual classrooms across the globe. Your support keeps our mission moving forward.
