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Spacefest

Overview

Spacefest is an annual reunion of NASA Apollo astronauts, famous space scientists, authors, astronomers, space artists and fans. It's been run by space artist Kim Poor and his wife Sally since 2007. After Kim passed, Sally kept the event going solo.

The first SpaceFest was in Mesa in 2007 with seven of the nine people who have walked on the moon in attendance, among a total count of 23 astronauts. All but two of the succeeding events were held in Tucson, with Spacefest II held in San Diego and Spacefest VI in Pasadena.

History

Chronology of Arizona Conventions

# Date Location Chair Guests Book Web Notes

1 2007
17 Aug
19 Aug Mesa Convention Center
Mesa Kim Poor
Sally Poor see below

3 2011
5 May
8 May J. W. Marriott Starr Pass Resort
Tucson Kim Poor
Sally Poor see below

4 2012
30 May
3 Jun J. W. Marriott Starr Pass Resort
Tucson Kim Poor
Sally Poor see below

5 2013
24 May
27 May J. W. Marriott Starr Pass Resort
Tucson Kim Poor
Sally Poor see below

7 2016
9 Jun
12 Jun J. W. Marriott Starr Pass Resort
Tucson Kim Poor
Sally Poor see below

8 2017
9 Jun
12 Jun J. W. Marriott Starr Pass Resort
Tucson Kim Poor
Sally Poor

9 2018
5 Jul
8 Jul J. W. Marriott Starr Pass Resort
Tucson Sally Poor

10 2019
8 Aug
11 Aug J. W. Marriott Starr Pass Resort
Tucson Sally Poor 1

11 2021
15 Jul
18 Jul J. W. Marriott Starr Pass Resort
Tucson Sally Poor

#	Date	Location	Chair	Guests	Notes
1	2007 17 Aug 19 Aug	Mesa Convention Center Mesa	Kim Poor Sally Poor	see below
3	2011 5 May 8 May	J. W. Marriott Starr Pass Resort Tucson	Kim Poor Sally Poor	see below
4	2012 30 May 3 Jun	J. W. Marriott Starr Pass Resort Tucson	Kim Poor Sally Poor	see below
5	2013 24 May 27 May	J. W. Marriott Starr Pass Resort Tucson	Kim Poor Sally Poor	see below
7	2016 9 Jun 12 Jun	J. W. Marriott Starr Pass Resort Tucson	Kim Poor Sally Poor	see below
8	2017 9 Jun 12 Jun	J. W. Marriott Starr Pass Resort Tucson	Kim Poor Sally Poor
9	2018 5 Jul 8 Jul	J. W. Marriott Starr Pass Resort Tucson	Sally Poor
10	2019 8 Aug 11 Aug	J. W. Marriott Starr Pass Resort Tucson	Sally Poor		1
11	2021 15 Jul 18 Jul	J. W. Marriott Starr Pass Resort Tucson	Sally Poor

Notes

Spacefest 10 was originally scheduled for 9-12 Jul 2020, but was postponed to 2021 due to COVID-19. Effectively, it's a cancellation of the 2020 event but a continuation of the name over to the 2021 event.

Guests

Spacefest generally has too many guests to list in the table above. Here are the guests announced for each event:

2007: Buzz Aldrin, Gene Cernan, Dave Scott, Alan Bean, Walter Cunningham, Charlie Duke, Scott Carpenter, Rusty Schweickart, Jack Lousma, Edgar Mitchell, Paul Weitz, Bruce McCandless, Dr. Joseph Kerwin, Gen. Robert Cardenas, Charles Walker, Bob Smyth, Ken 'K.O.' Chilstrom and Richard Hatch.

2011: Gene Cernan, Dave Scott, Alan Bean, Buzz Aldrin, Charlie Duke, Jim Lovell, Edgar Mitchell, Gen. Tom Stafford, Fred Haise, Al Worden, Richard Gordon, Paul Weitz, Rusty Schweickart, Walt Cunningham, Jack Lousma, Ed Gibson, Bruce McCandless, Rick Searfoss, Charles Walker, Gen. Robert Cardenas, Lew Nelson, Sy Liebergot, Richard Hatch, Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood.

2012: Gene Cernan, Jim Lovell, Scott Carpenter, Buzz Aldrin, Alan Bean, Richard Gordon, Fred Haise, Edgar Mitchell, Dave Scott, Al Worden, Charlie Duke, Vance Brand, Walt Cunningham, Paul Weitz, Mike Mullane, Tom Jones, Jack Lousma, Ed Gibson, Charles Walker, Dale Cox and Richard Hatch.

2013: Gene Cernan, Jim McDivitt, Scott Carpenter, Alan Bean, Dave Scott, Richard Gordon, Edgar Mitchell, Fred Haise, Walt Cunningham, Vance Brand, Jerry Ross, Jack Lousma, Ed Gibson, Bruce McCandless, Charles Walker, Curt Newport, Sy Liebergot and Glynn Lunney.

2016: Edward J. Rezac, Ron Garan, Manfred 'Dutch' von Ehrenfried, Glynn Lunney, James Lovell, Milt Heflin, Charles F. Deiterich, Charlie Duke, Rhea Seddon, Robert 'Hoot' Gibson, Michael Collins, Nicole Stott, Alan Bean, Eileen Collins, Fred Haise, Walt Cunningham, Rusty Schweickart, Jack Lousma, Al Worden, Paul J. Weitz, Charlie Walker, Gene Cernan, Jim McDivitt, Richard Gordon, Vance Brand, Don Thomas, Dave Scott, Jerry Ross, Bruce McCandless, Gerry Griffin, Dee O'Hara and Sy Liebergot.

Last update: 4th October, 2020