There’s a tiny piece of celestial history, a small chunk of a moon rock, on permanent display in the Central Catholic High School’s Kress Family Library.
The exhibit is one of the featured attractions of what became known simply as the “Moon Room” on the school’s second floor when it was dedicated on Dec. 6, 2007.
All of the artifacts inside — the piece of the moon rock, a wide array of wall-sized photographs, scaled-down model rockets, and other such items — were donated by one of the school’s most famous graduates, Gene Kranz.
Mr. Kranz served for years as NASA’s flight director inside its Johnson Space Center in Houston during many famous Gemini and Apollo flights, including the Apollo 11 mission that became the world’s first to land on the moon on July 20, 1969. Northwest Ohio native Neil Armstrong’s historic first steps on the lunar surface were taken early in the morning on July 21, 1969.
Sunday marks the 50th anniversary of that extraordinary event.
Mr. Kranz is a 1951 Central Catholic graduate. His father died when he was only 7. His mother, Margaret Kranz, moved the family from South Toledo to a home in West Toledo near the old Willys-Overland Jeep plant during World War II.
During his long and distinguished NASA career, which spanned from 1960 to 1994, Mr. Kranz established himself as one of the space agency’s legends. In addition to his key role with Apollo 11, he is perhaps best known as the flight director who got the aborted Apollo 13 flight safely back home after an oxygen tank exploded in space and endangered the lives of three astronauts aboard. He was portrayed by actor Ed Harris in the 1995 movie, Apollo 13, starring Tom Hanks.
The donated slice of a moon rock came from a lunar sample collected during the Apollo 17 mission in December, 1972.
Mr. Kranz gave the school that piece of history after NASA bestowed him with a prestigious Ambassador of Exploration award.
The collection also includes a portion of Mr. Kranz’s actual control desk, as well as an American flag that was flown aboard the space shuttle Columbia in 1994.
With Apollo 11’s 50th anniversary on the horizon, Central Catholic decided that now was as good a time as any to remind people about its unique room. It is believed to be the nation’s only high school with a piece of a moon rock on permanent display.
Kevin Parkins, Central Catholic head of school, said the Moon Room continues to be a “wonderful opportunity for our students to experience a little bit of history.”
“It’s to inspire our kids that the future’s bright,” Mr. Parkins said.
He said Mr. Kranz is “on the Mount Rushmore” of Central Catholic’s most famous graduates, which now include an estimated 25,000 living alumni.
On a wall inside a nearby room is a framed copy of a term paper Mr. Kranz wrote back in high school, titled The Design and Possibilities of the Interplanetary Rocket. It details how a rocket could be built to go into outer space. He got a 98 of 100.
“I never believed that one day I would be a member of the team that would plant an American flag on the moon,” Mr. Kranz said through a news release issue by the school. “Dreams are often born during high school, and I developed my love for aviation while attending Central Catholic.”
First Published July 17, 2019, 11:04 p.m.
