I Thank My Lucky Stars

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, join us in the Planetarium for a special program. After a 10-minute live recap of the goals and challenges of the mission, we’ll hear from groundbreaking optical engineer Al Nagler, who was instrumental in designing NASA’s Apollo Moon Landing Simulator. Nagler will recount the problems encountered—and the ingenious solutions devised—to make the moon landings possible.

Growing up in the Bronx, Nagler was turned on to astronomy not by the night sky, but by a planetarium visit. As a teenager, he built his own 8-inch reflecting telescope, and went on to study physics and optics at City College of New York. Today, Nagler’s company TeleVue Optics makes some of the industry’s best telescopes and accessories.