Astronaut Duke interacts with students in Vijayawada

Vijayawada: It was a memorable moment for all the people who were present at the interactive session with the Man who walked on the Moon Charles Moss Duke here on Friday.

Astronaut Duke, along with his wife Dorothy Meade Claiborne was in the city as the chief guest of the programme oganised by the Democratic Forum for Better Society secretary Gottipati Ramakrishna Prasad, evangelist Bandela Yesupadam and North America Telugu Association chairman B Srinivas, Collector B Lakshmikantham at PB Siddhartha College of Arts and Science Auditorium.

Addressing the huge gathering of students, the 83-year-old Duke stated that he came from a small town near St Francisco. His father was in the army and with his father’s inspiration he joined the air force after completing graduation in 1957.

He shared his experience about the journey to the moon and the struggles he encountered in the process. He said, “I was 36-year-old when l landed on the moon.

Before landing on the moon, I had a strong commitment to become an astronaut and later underwent Test Pilot Training after graduation. I underwent rigorous training for three years and later made it to the lunar surface as lunar module pilot on Apollo 16, the 10th of the 12 moonwalkers.”

He said that Apollo was 110 meters long with 11 meters diameter and weighing 3 million kgs which needed 3.5 million kgs of power to move the space shuttle.

Duke further shared his experience on the moon through power point presentation. He said that July 2019 will be golden jubilee year for Neil Armstrong who touched the surface of moon in 1969.

He recalled that he met the fromer Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in New Delhi.” Later, Duke interacted with the students and motivated them by saying that everyone has a purpose in life and the students should take education seriously to achieve their goal to have a joyful life.

Take advantage of the education and open yourself to fulfill your dreams, said the astronaut.