Huntsville to celebrate 50th anniversary of Apollo 16

The U.S. Space and Rocket Center is observing a moment of NASA history this week. The Huntsville area museum is home is to the Apollo 16 command module capsule nicknamed Casper. The gumdrop shaped spacecraft carried astronauts John Young, Charlie Duke, and Ken Mattingly to the moon fifty years ago this week. Duke will visit Huntsville this Wednesday to commemorate his walk on the lunar surface back in 1972. The retired astronaut is also famous for being the Mission Control radio spokesman in 1969 when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made the first lunar landing during Apollo 11. “We copy you on the ground Eagle, you got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We’re all breathing again, thanks a lot,” Duke said. The retired moonwalker will also take part in an event focusing on NASA’s new rocket undergoing tests at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Artemis one spacecraft is designed and managed at the Marshall Space Center in Huntsville.