Nixon Presidential Library and Museum Space Exhibit and Memorial - Yorba Linda, CA
Posted by: 
saopaulo1
N 33° 53.360 W 117° 49.147
11S E 424257 N 3750187
Within the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum exists a one-room space flight exhibit and contains a small collection of items utilized in various space missions over the years as well as a memorial plaque located outside the Library.
Waymark Code: WM88Y2
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 02/20/2010
Views: 22
Tucked away within the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum (admission fees apply) is a one-room space flight exhibit which contains items from various space missions over the decades and many during President Nixon's term. Two items that stuck out were a blue space suit worn by Payload Specialist Gregory T. Linteris on July 12, 1996 during a space shuttle mission. The other is a space suit replica which was worn during Apollo Missions 11, 12, 13 and 14. Another interesting item is a moon rock that was brought back to Earth during the Apollo 15 mission on August 7, 1971, during Nixon's term as President. There is a placard hanging on the wall in the exhibit room that reads:
"Space is the clearest example of the necessity for international scientific cooperation and the benefits that accrue from it."
-President Nixon, in his February 25, 1971
Report to Congress on U.S. Foreign Policy
A Vice President, Richard Nixon's vision of America in space promoted peace while bringing out the best in civilian and commercial enterprise. His policies as President reflected the same priorities. In January 1971, he decided to go forward with the space shuttle a reusable craft that could serve research, commercial, and military purposes. During his historic first summit meeting with Leonid Brezhnev in 1972, he signed an agreement which led to the Apollo-Soyuz orbital docking in July 1975 and set the tone for collaborations between the U.S. and Russian space programs that continue today.
As a practical politician whose idealistic thirst for peace never wavered, Richard Nixon may have believed so strongly in the space program because it combined the sheer poetic beauty of space travel with down-to-earth pragmatism. Our 37th President and space also come together, perhaps not surprisingly, in the imaginations of some UFO buffs. One book about Area 51 in Nevada, the focus of so much "UFO-logy," even speculates that the Nixon Library secretly houses the key to the Nixon-UFO link.
So welcome to "Area 37"!
In addition to the space exhibit room is another space suit replica worn during Apollo 16 and located just inside the entrance to the Library and past the ticket counter. Also located outside in the garden area of the library is a memorial plaque which is dedicated to the 30th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, piloted by Buzz Aldrin in July, 1969. Next to the plaque are petrosymatoglyphs of footsteps in concrete leading to the plaque which look like space boot prints.