Dear Rice Community,
On Sept. 12, 1962, President John F. Kennedy stood in Rice Stadium and delivered a speech boldly proclaiming America’s commitment to land the first men on the moon. Rice and NASA are thrilled to celebrate the 60-year anniversary of the famous speech and commemorate the progress that’s been made over the past six decades in space exploration, research and education.
Three days of free events and exhibitions open to the public will take place Sept. 10-12, beginning with a mass “spelfie” photographed from space and capped by an event at the stadium on the anniversary.
The main event on Sept. 12 will feature a reading from the president’s speech, a message from astronauts on board the International Space Station and talks by NASA administrator and astronaut Bill Nelson, Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche, Rice alumna and astronaut Shannon Walker, French spationaut Jean-Loup Chrétien and elected officials.
The Marching Owl Band will perform, and Houston Youth Poet Laureate and Rice student Avalon Hogans will read her poem “Skyline of Mine.” Thousands of Houston Independent School District students are also expected to attend the event.
The “spelfie” will take place at Rice Stadium Sept. 10, beginning at 11 a.m., weather permitting, with a satellite flyover scheduled for 12:06 p.m. This is a unique opportunity and the Rice community is invited to help form a giant “60” on the field to be photographed by a passing Airbus Pléiades satellite. Please make sure to register here.
The Rice football team will host a NASA Space Day at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 10 when it plays McNeese State. Ticket holders will receive a Rice space scarf at the game. Tickets are available at https://tinyurl.com/4ksdt59x.
And that’s not all. Space exploration and research exhibits from NASA, industry and Rice will be available to view throughout the three-day celebration in the Greenbriar Lot just west of Rice Stadium, with some on display inside the Robert L. Waltrip Training Center.
Additional details about the celebration can be found here.
I encourage you to attend as much of the celebration as you can. The events mark not only what is widely acknowledged as the speech that kicked off an intense era of space exploration, but also the beginning of a special relationship between Rice and NASA that has continued to grow and support our nation’s exploration goals and the advancement of human spaceflight.
The celebration also marks NASA’s plans to begin the next phase of its return to the moon with the launch of the unmanned Artemis 1 mission. Crewed flights are planned in the coming years.
As with past missions to the moon and robotic explorations of the sun and planets, Rice faculty and students have played a supporting role in Artemis and aim to play a part in future discoveries that support some of the world’s most important research and educational outreach.
Hope to see you this weekend and on Monday!
Warm Regards,
President Reginald DesRoches