As a worldwide television audience tuned in 40 years ago to watch Neil Armstrong take "one small step" on the lunar surface, 4-year-old Chris Butler kept his eye on the astronaut he knew as simply the nice guy from his dad's work.
The son of an aerospace engineer at North American Aviation, Butler had been an occasional visitor to the Downey facility where the Apollo 11 command and lunar modules were built. It was there that he met Armstrong, who on July 20, 1969, became the first man to set foot on the moon.
"He would take me to his work," Butler said of his father, Robert. "I thought everybody's dad built spaceships."
It's that memory that Butler will share during "One Small Step," a four-day series of exhibits and discussions hosted by Griffith Observatory to commemorate the historic achievement. A complete schedule is available at www.griffithobs.org.
From noon-7 p.m. daily today through Sunday, the observatory will host a static display about the Apollo 11 mission, with exhibits including training equipment and moon rocks.
Today's activities also include a lecture at 3 and 7:30 p.m., where experts will discuss the validity of the lunar missions.
Friday's lectures include a look at upcoming space missions, while Saturday's events feature a primer on the astronaut selection process.
Butler will emcee a panel discussion Sunday titled "California Goes to the Moon," with three engineers who worked to design and build the spacecraft recalling their role in helping America win the space race.
"All too often, we forget that having the dream and giving the order is a lot different than doing the job - and that's (where) these engineers, myself included, have a large heritage and history," said Jerry Blackburn, who also worked at North American Aviation.
"It is the ability of remembering and feeling what it was like to build these machines and use (them) for the benefit of mankind."
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