October 15, 2024 | 10:43am
SEATTLE, USA —The original Moon Buggy, developed and tested in Seattle, sits across thousands of artifacts and vehicles in Seattle’s Museum of Flight, the world’s biggest independent air and space museum.
For years, Filipinos believed in the hoax that Filipino mechanical engineer Eduardo San Juan, nicknamed “The Space Junkman,” invented the Lunar Rover or Moon Buggy.
Official records show the Lunar Roving Vehicle was actually invented by Boeing as a four-wheel, battery-powered rover used on the moon by astronauts in the Apollo 15, 16 and 17 missions from 1971 to 1972. According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), German-born American rocket scientist Georg von Tiesenhausen conceived the lunar rover as early as 1959.
Since Seattle is the birthplace and headquarters of Boeing, many of the aerospace manufacturer’s inventions are displayed in the museum. This includes a model of the first ever airplane the Philippines’ flag carrier airlines, Philippine Airlines (PAL), used on its maiden flight – from Manila to Baguio – on March 15, 1941, carrying five passengers.
Today, the aircraft model used for PAL’s very first flight is still being used as a rescue airplane.
The visit to Seattle and the Museum of Flight coincided with PAL’s launch of its new Manila to Seattle and vice versa route, which is also serviced by Boeing 777 or Triple Seven airplanes that were delivered straight to Manila from Seattle.
Besides the Moon Buggy and a model of PAL’s first airplane, also worth seeing in the museum are:
- a replica of the very first plane invented by the Wright brothers (there are also of course, actual constructed reproductions of Leonardo da Vinci’s flight machine designs);
- a stealth and other spy planes, which still hold the world records for the fastest planes on Earth;
- a “Harry Potter”-like car that converts into an airplane;
- a “padyak”-powered airplane that flew over bodies of water using only manual pedal power like in “E.T.”;
- a United Airlines wooden 80A plane (also by Boeing) with wooden chair passenger seats and interior patterned after a train cabin;
- debris of Amelia Earhart’s lost airplane and an exact replica of her airplane that completed her trip;
- memorabilia and artifacts from the Apollo missions, including a copy of the original video recording of the astronauts’ livestream from the moon for Apollo 11’s 50th anniversary celebrated in the museum;
- and space rocket debris commissioned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to be extracted from a depth deeper than the location of the sunken Titanic. Amazon, the biggest company in Washington State, was founded by Bezos in a Seattle suburb.
Located in a 23-acre space composed of five buildings, the Museum of Flight offers “an encyclopedic look at aviation and space history” with its displays that encompass “everything from the first fighter aircraft in 1914 to a mock-up of the space shuttle that NASA used, to the current Boeing 787 Dreamliner,” said the museum’s Senior Public Relations and Promotions Manager Ted Huetter.
The museum attracts over 600,000 visitors a year, mostly school tour groups, said Huetter, making it one of Seattle’s top tourist attractions. Hundreds of retirees from the aviation industry also volunteer at the museum as tour guides.
“It’s a popular spot for families because there’s lots for kids to see… lots of things for them to do,” Huetter assured guests. “We have workshops, family workshops, every weekend… And then there’s flight simulators that are for free or cost very minimally in all five buildings… There’s a lot more to do here than just look at airplanes.” — Video by Deni Rose M. Afinidad-Bernardo; additional video editing by Anjilica Andaya
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Editor’s note: The tour to Seattle was hosted by Philippine Airlines to promote tourism in the area. At no stage does the host organization have a say on the stories generated from the coverage, interviews conducted, publication date and story treatment. Content is produced solely by Philstar.com following editorial guidelines.
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