Astronaut to speak at Calusa Nature Center

COURTESY PHOTO Astronaut Story Musgrave

Fans of space, the stars and the moon will want to attend the Calusa Nature Center and Planetarium's Spring Fling 2008 on Saturday, June 14 at Verandah's River House, featuring Astronaut Story Musgrave.

Musgrave's presentation will feature his favorite photographs of Earth taken during his numerous trips in space along with his unique perspectives of his time in space.

The popular event also features an evening of entertainment including cocktails, fine cuisine, silent auction and $1,000 reverse raffle. Tickets to the event are $100 each.

One of NASA's most experienced astronauts, Musgrave was elected to the Astronaut Hall of Fame in 2003. With a 30-year career spanning the Apollo era of the 1960s to the Space Shuttle program of the 90s, he is the only astronaut to have flown on all five space shuttles. He is also a pilot, surgeon, mechanic, poet and philosopher.

Over the years Musgrave has flown nearly 18,000 hours in 160 different types of civilian and military aircraft as pilot, instructor and acrobatics specialist. In addition, he has made more than 600 private parachute jumps, including over 100 experimental free-fall descents to study human aerodynamics.

Throughout his career with NASA, Story enriched his experiences with his ongoing studies and by capturing the essence of spaceflight through a variety of mediums including photography, poetry and personal experiments. He was the first astronaut to photograph Uluru (Ayer's Rock), Mt. Everest and the Egyptian pyramids from space, and to demonstrate the behavior of consumer products like Coca-Cola in zero gravity. He also studied the psychological responses of performing certain tasks in various orientations. Proceeds from the evening benefit the Calusa Nature Center and Planetarium, a private not-forprofit, environmental education center. The community center, situated on 105 acres, features the Living Natural History Museum with live native animals; the Butterfly Aviary and Native Plant Nursery; the Audubon Aviary which permanently houses injured birds of prey; nature trails; the Planetarium with regularly scheduled astronomy programs and laser light shows, gift shop, picnic areas as well as meeting facilities.

Spring Fling sponsors include Bonita Bay Group, First Community Bank of Southwest Florida, Johnson Engineering and Lewis, Longman & Walker, P.A, as well as Passarella & Associates and Ringland Construction. Sponsorships are available by contacting Kim Fikoski, Bonita Bay Group, at kimf@bonitabaygroup.com.

The Calusa Nature Center is located at 3450 Ortiz Avenue at the intersection of Colonial Boulevard and Six Mile Cypress in Fort Myers, one minute from I-75 at exit 136.

Programs are sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.