Kid Stuff

One Giant Leap at the Library

moon landing celebrated with Lego rocket, space suit

Rebecca Mennecke |

Reading is out of this world!
Reading is out of this world!

It has been 50 years since Neil Armstrong became the first man to step foot on the moon. The Menomonie Public Library and the department of chemistry and physics at UW-Stout seek to commemorate that “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” through a new Lego display of the Saturn V – the rocket that powered the moon journey – and a replica of the spacesuit worn by Armstrong. The displays, which were pieced together by Alan Scott, a professor in the department of chemistry and physics at UW-Stout, will be up at the library July 8-19. “I’ve had a life-long fascination with space exploration,” Scott said. The Saturn V replica is about 3 feet tall, whereas the original was about 363 feet tall, Scott said. This Lego model contains 1,969 pieces and took about 12 hours to build, while the spacesuit replica took around 80 hours to craft, Scott said. “Very few people outside our space agencies and museums have an Apollo moon-walking spacesuit,” Scott said. “It occurred to me that making a replica would be fun and exciting.” The library will host a series of events relating to space to celebrate the historic Apollo mission, including a “Planets and Popcorn” event July 8, a “First Man on the Moon” presentation July 15, “Model Rocketry” with Alan Scott July 16, “Building and Testing a Mars Lander” July 17, and “Giant Steps” with John Heasley – who volunteers as a Solar System Ambassador Master Teacher with NASA – on Aug. 7. More information about all these events can be found on the Menomonie Public Library’s website. 

Spacesuit and Saturn V Lego Rocket Display • July 8-19 • Menomonie Public Library, 600 Wolske Bay Road, Menomonie • All day • FREE • menomonielibrary.org • (715) 232-2164