Astronaut Returning Rockwell Photo From Space Journey
STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — Norman Rockwell Museum will welcome home Stephanie Wilson, a graduate of Pittsfield's Taconic High School, with a public program on Friday, June 4, starting at 11 a.m.Wilson will return a reproduction of a 1964 photo of Norman Rockwell and astronauts John W. Young and Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom.
The original photo was taken at Cape Kennedy and was reproduced by the museum and Chicago Albumen Works digital archiving and printing services to accompany Wilson's Oct. 20, 2007, voyage aboard Space Shuttle Discovery. Wilson will offer remarks about her experience working for NASA's space program, as well as her local ties to the Berkshires.
"We are extremely honored to welcome astronaut Stephanie Wilson to Norman Rockwell Museum. She is an inspiration to young people the world over," said museum director Laurie Norton Moffatt.
"Norman Rockwell chronicled the early Apollo space missions in a series of paintings he created back in the 1960s; he was pleased to chronicle such an exciting chapter in world history. Story Musgrave, one of NASA's first astronauts, grew up in Linwood House, the current home of Norman Rockwell Museum. He recalls gazing into the sky while lying on the lawn, and dreaming of going into space."
A veteran of three space flights (STS-121 in 2006, STS-120 in 2007, and STS-131 in 2010), Wilson has logged more than 42 days in space.
In preparation for her second space shuttle mission, she contacted the museum in June 2007 to inquire about borrowing a memento to commemorate the life and work of Rockwell during her flight. The museum enthusiastically agreed, and sent along a digital print photo from its archives that featured Rockwell alongside Young and Grissom at Cape Kennedy in 1964; the photo was chosen to honor the contribution of the two pioneers of American space exploration, and their connection to Rockwell. The photo was also chosen to honor the memory of Grissom, who was killed during an Apollo launch exercise in 1967.
Rockwell visited NASA in 1964 to prepare for a commissioned illustration that was to be published in the April 20, 1965, issue of Look magazine, featuring Grissom and Young suiting up for the first manned Gemini mission (Gemini 3).
The artist was extremely proud to have been chosen to document the United States' foray in to space, and subsequently went on to create additional paintings in 1967 and 1969, to represent NASA's Apollo mission. The digital print produced for Wilson's trip was prepared by Doug Munson at Chicago Albumen Works, of Housatonic; the company has had a long association with the museum, recently assisting with its ongoing ProjectNORMAN digitization program, and the exhibition "Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera."
Norman Rockwell Museum is located at 9 Route 183. Museum hours are 10 to 5; admission is $15 for adults, $10 for students, and $13.50 for seniors; youth 18 and younger are admitted free.
