“The USS Hornet is the largest surviving artifact of the Apollo program and we have an award-winning Apollo exhibit on board,” according to a new release.
On hand was Clancy Hatleberg who was on the Underwater Demolition Team that first greeted Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin Aldrin when they splashed down in the Pacific Ocean after their mission to the moon.
“So I’m standing there, and the first person who comes out turns out to be Neil Armstrong,” says Clancy Hatleberg, the officer in charge of the swimmer-recovery teams of Apollo 11. “He sticks his hand out and says something. Now with the gas masks, you can’t understand anything. So I fell back on my Navy training, which is when you’re in an operation, and somebody says something to you, you repeat it back to let them know you understood. I said back into the face mask exactly what I heard, ‘Bzerblizerblz.’”
They hosted a High School Robotics contest and the San Jose Astronomical Association with their solar telescopes.
Clancy Hatleberg, left, who was the Underwater Demolition Team or Navy frogman leader who first greeted Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Amstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin Aldrin when they splashed down in the Pacific Ocean after their mission to the moon, talks to visitors during the Apollo exhibit aboard the USS Hornet Museum in Alameda, Calif., on Saturday, July 20, 2024. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) A visitor looks at the Block I spacecraft module during the Apollo exhibit aboard the USS Hornet Museum in Alameda, Calif., on Saturday, July 20, 2024. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) Robots made by 38 Northern California high school teams, one from New Jersey and one from Colorado, compete for pride as part of the Apollo exhibit aboard the USS Hornet Museum in Alameda, Calif., on Saturday, July 20, 2024. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) A visitor looks closely at a fighter aircraft, an F-14 Tomcat, during the Apollo exhibit aboard the USS Hornet Museum in Alameda, Calif., on Saturday, July 20, 2024. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) Visitor Cesar Gamboa, of San Martin, puts on an astronaut helmet as his wife, Yalitza, takes photos during the Apollo exhibit aboard the USS Hornet Museum in Alameda, Calif., on Saturday, July 20, 2024. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) Robots made by 38 Northern California high school teams, one from New Jersey and one from Colorado, compete for pride as part of the Apollo exhibit aboard the USS Hornet Museum in Alameda, Calif., on Saturday, July 20, 2024. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) College Park students carry their robot into the court before the competition with 39 other high school teams as part of the Apollo exhibit aboard the USS Hornet Museum in Alameda, Calif., on Saturday, July 20, 2024. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) Nicolette Dumais, right, a USS Hornet constituent communications manager, looks through a telescope at hydrogen or plasma coming off of the sun according to George Doon, left, of the San Jose Astronomical Association during the Apollo exhibit aboard the USS Hornet Museum in Alameda, Calif., on Saturday, July 20, 2024. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) Robots made by 38 Northern California high school teams, one from New Jersey and one from Colorado, compete for pride as part of the Apollo exhibit aboard the USS Hornet Museum in Alameda, Calif., on Saturday, July 20, 2024. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
