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NASA HISTORY: Walt Disney, Other Disney Executives Visit NASA Space Flight Center

By  //  April 14, 2016

51 YEARS AGO THIS MONTH

On April 13 1965, Walt Disney, Roy Disney, and other Disney executives visited the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Alabama. (NASA.gov image)
In April 1965, Walt Disney, second from left, Roy Disney, and other Disney executives visited the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Alabama. At far right is Wernher von Braun, who was the Director of MSFC, and had invited Disney in hopes that the tour could generate enthusiasm for space exploration and motivate Disney to create more films about space exploration. (NASA.gov image)

In April 1965, Walt Disney, Roy Disney, and other Disney executives visited the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Alabama.

Wernher von Braun, who was the Director of MSFC, had invited Disney in hopes that the tour could generate enthusiasm for space exploration and motivate Disney to create more films about space exploration.

Disney and von Braun had collaborated in the mid-1950s on a series of live action and animated features about the potential for spaceflight.

Regarding the 1965 visit, one Marshall official wrote, “Out of this we would at least establish good will, and maybe (if we play our cards right) we could get something going that would be of tremendous benefit to MSFC, Apollo, NASA, and the entire space effort.”

Von Braun himself wrote that the Disney tour “may easily result in a Disney picture about manned space flight.

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Science fiction has always exerted a powerful influence on popular opinion and enthusiasm for space exploration. Most recently, this can be seen by the enthusiasm generated by the movie, “The Martian”.

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