Colorado Astronauts Honored at Wings Over the Rockies Museum
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CSURF Vice President Ron Sega signs autographs at the Colorado's Astronauts exhibit.
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Ron Sega has covered quite a lot of ground in his career. On Friday May 23rd, he was honored alongside numerous astronauts at the Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum for his participation in two missions to space aboard the shuttle Discovery in 1994 and Atlantis in 1996.
The museum hosted the ceremony to mark the opening of a new exhibit entitled "Colorado’s Astronauts, In Their Own Words" which displays stories and memorabilia related to the astronauts’ experiences in space. There are 65 astronauts with connections to Colorado, which is more than any other state. Several of these astronauts are also associated with Colorado State University including Mary Cleave (BS in biological sciences), Kent Rominger (BS in civil engineering), James van Hoften (MS and PhD in civil engineering), and the late Walter Schirra (adviser, 1977-1982).
Greg Anderson, CEO of the museum, says, "Wings Over the Rockies considers it a privilege to honor one-fifth of all U.S. astronauts whose significant ties to Colorado helped them pioneer the first fifty years of our Space Age. Our new exhibit, 'Colorado's Astronauts, In Their Own Words' shares their personal reflections and memorabilia with a new generation of future astronauts who will walk again on the Moon, and Mars, and lead us to new worlds. We are delighted CSU is a partner in such an exciting opportunity."
The highlight of the event was the presentation of NASA’s Ambassador of Exploration Award by Apollo 13 spacecraft commander James Lovell to the family of the late Jack Swigert, the command module pilot for the Apollo 13 mission. The evening also included signing of posters and the book Colorado Astronauts: In Their Own Words that was released with the exhibit and can be purchased at the museum.
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Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum, Denver, Colorado.
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Ron Sega and his team won the Presidential Award for Energy Management in 2007 while he served as Under Secretary of the Air Force. Sega joined Colorado State University in August 2007 and was recently named Vice President for Energy, the Environment and Applied Research at CSURF (Colorado State University Research Foundation).