Quite an accomplishment! Lt. Col. Charles Gemar was South Dakota’s first astronaut to travel in space. The Lieutenant Colonel completed three missions in 1990, 1991, and 1994, logging more than 580 hours. His longest space stay was 14 days in 1994.
Lt. Col. Chuck Gemar, born and raised in southeastern South Dakota, belonging to several organizations and receiving many special honors.
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| Photo: NASA |
President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the space act in 1958, establishing NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration).
The State Library is a source of early NASA federal documents. Titles from the state library collection were selected along with a NASA daily calendar to view awestruck astronomy, linked below.
- NASA, the first 25 years, 1958-1983 : a resource for teachers : a curriculum project. https://permanent.fdlp.gov/gpo57400/19840018495.pdf
NAS 1.21:400 OCLC#2644423 - Skylab, our first space station https://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/LPS70431
- NASA provides amazing wonders in, Astronomy Picture of the Day Calendar 1995-2021 https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
The SD State Library is a federal depository library and provides access to print and electronic federal government publications. Print publications are available via interlibrary loan. Electronic publications are linked from the state library online catalog.