In a salute to the wonders of space exploration, the UF Chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics presented “The Apollo Program: The Space Race to the Moon” Thursday at Weil Hall.
Peter Chitko, a mechanical engineer who has been working shuttle engineering with NASA for 27 years, explained the development of the Apollo Program to about 75 people.
Starting with President Kennedy’s promise and ending with the Apollo 17 mission, Chitko described in detail the accomplishments and struggles of the Apollo Program.
He said, to this day, the Apollo Program still inspires.
“I consider myself very fortunate and lucky,” Chitko said. “When I was a kid in the third grade, what inspired me to love space was the mission of the Apollo 11.”
David Urbinati, a third-year mechanical engineering student at UF, said he first became interested in the Apollo Program after watching the movie “Apollo 13” when he was younger.
“I enjoyed his presentation a lot,” Urbinati said. “He was very detailed and very knowledgeable.”
