Rocket City shines at "Space Prom"
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Astronaut Barry "Butch" Wilmore told the crowd Wednesday that "everyone in here, your role is important." Photo: Derek Lacey/Axios
The Huntsville Chapter of the National Space Club held its 37th Annual Wernher Von Braun Memorial Dinner last Wednesday night, lovingly dubbed "Space Prom."
Why it matters: Huntsville's reputation as the Rocket City is hard-earned, and the annual Space Club gala is a chance for the folks who keep it going to dress up and celebrate the space community's stars.
Zoom in: The highlight of the dinner was the Dr. Wernher Von Braun Space Flight Trophy, awarded to Capt. Sunita (Suni) Williams and Capt. Barry "Butch" Wilmore.
- Wilmore and Williams crewed the Boeing Starliner test flight last year, when a planned eight-day stay on the International Space Station stretched to nine months.
Stunning stat: Total, Wilmore has logged 464 days in space and Williams 608. Williams, who couldn't make it Wednesday, has logged 62-plus hours of spacewalks, the most by any woman and fourth overall for NASA.
Context: After entering the astronaut corps, Wilmore said he "got what they call the engines job, and that means I was the guy that came to Huntsville, Alabama … and I was here a lot for the next 15 years, from 2002-2018."
- That training in Huntsville, Wilmore said, helped him on the Starliner mission to understand things he otherwise wouldn't have, "and brought me through some fairly perilous times within the last year and half."
- "I worked with many of you -- many of you mentored me," he said to the Space Club crowd Wednesday. "Nobody knew engines and solid rocket booster and external tank better than me, and that was because of you."
Driving the news: New this year is the National Security Space Award, which went to Ret. Lt. Gen. Dan Karbler, who formerly led the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command.
- Karbler was an advisor for and an actor along with Idris Elba and Rebecca Ferguson in the new Netflix film "House of Dynamite," which takes a realistic look at how an unattributed nuclear missile launch on the U.S. would unfold.
- Heading into the weekend, it was ranked the No. 2 film on Netflix. In an interview played at the event, Karbler called the film "super realistic."
Catch up quick: Also awarded was the Distinguished Science Award (James Webb Telescope team), Educator of the Year Award (Mrinal Joshi, teacher at Journey Middle School in Madison) and the Jack Lee Service Award (Rick Chappell).
- The Dread Pirate Robotics team nabbed the Rising Star Award, Larry Leopard the Astronautics Engineering Award, and Jeffrey Kluger received the Communications Award.
The bottom line: "There's one thing we know," Wilmore said. "The road to space goes through Huntsville, Alabama."