Although social media may not always be the most reliable way to get news, as journalists we like to keep an eye on it. You never know when you'll see something posted that might lead to an interesting story.
One such item was posted to Facebook recently about a local connection to the first moon landing with Neil Armstrong, which had its 50th anniversary on July 20. Apparently, one of the scientists involved, Bruce Aikenhead, was born right here in Didsbury in 1923.
Now we don't have obstetrics here in Didsbury currently and haven't for some time. Back in 1923 I guess maybe they did. Or maybe the family just stopped on the side of the road. I have no idea.
Apparently, 30 of the 400,000 NASA employees at the time were not only born and raised in Canada but fundamental to making the moon landing a success. Aikenhead was one of those 30.
I spoke to one of Bruce's daughters, Kathleen "Kasey" Burns, who said her father is 95 years old and was recently placed into palliative care in Vernon, B.C.
"He didn't talk about it (the space program) a lot growing up," said Burns. "We did go to Langley Field in Virginia when he worked for NASA. That's when he was working with the Mercury 7 astronauts. The Apollo program happened after we returned to Canada. He was an astronaut trainer with the simulator."
In a 2009 CBC article, famous Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, when asked if any Canadians were involved with the Apollo 11 moon landing, said, "One of our engineers was one of the astronaut trainers, Bruce Aikenhead, who worked with the original Mercury astronauts, some of whom walked on the moon."
Avro-Arrow.com stated, from a report from 1999, that Aikenhead returned to Canada after three years of training astronauts at NASA and became one of the pioneers of the Canadian space program. He worked on Gerry Bull's controversial cannon launcher, on Canadian satellites, the Canadarm and, finally, the Canadian Astronaut Program where he was director general.
A story from 2017 in the Salmon Arm Observer newspaper wrote, "Aikenhead is 93 years old now and living in Salmon Arm, B.C. He retired in 1993 and moved to B.C., where his wife, dog and cat were waiting."
He received the Order of Canada in 1997.
That paper also states Aikenhead was involved with creating the Okanagan Science Centre (OSC) in Vernon. Another Okanagan paper, the Vernon Morning Star, said that Hadfield attended Aikenhead's 90th birthday celebration in 2013 at the OSC along with several local dignitaries.
"Hadfield reviewed highlights of Aikenhead's career and noted that it was the work of Aikenhead and his colleagues that enabled him to become the first Canadian to command a spaceship," said Sandi Dixon, OSC director, about the event.
As for Aikenhead's brush with Didsbury, it appears to just be that he was born here, which is still pretty exciting. According to the Canadian Aviation Historical Society, he was born in Didsbury in 1923 and grew up in London, Ont.
Burns said from what she remembered, her grandfather (Bruce's father Harold Aikenhead) was a musician. She said they lived in Didsbury for about a year while Bruce was an infant before moving to Ontario, where he was raised.
His interest in aviation began in 1929 when he was about six years old after witnessing a huge Zeppelin hovering above Windsor, Ont. on its voyage around the world.
Aikenhead also served in the Second World War with the Royal Canadian Air Force.
"He joined the British RAF (Royal Air Force) in India," she said. "His role was that of a radar operator. At that time radar was top secret. He was training right out of high school."
So there you have it. Quite the interesting life he has lived. I'm pretty sure every one of us has dreamt of being an astronaut. That's certainly cool, but without Aikenhead and people like him behind the scenes there is no moon mission.
– Craig Lindsay is the Mountain View Gazette reporter
