New space center exhibit rich in aerospace artifacts

Photo courtesy Columbia Memorial Space Center

DOWNEY – In coordination with the ongoing celebration of Downey’s 60th year anniversary, the Columbia Memorial Space Center has unveiled a new exhibit highlighting the work of Albert "Buddy" Lawbaugh and his role in Downey's rich aerospace history. 

“The exhibit is our way of honoring the 60th anniversary through the lens of one guy who was here on our site back in the day,” said CMSC President Ben Dickow.

The exhibit, titled Engineering the Unlimited Future, is a slight departure from the usual hands on experiences provided by Downey’s space museum. The artifact based exhibit features several items from Lawbaugh’s personal archive including personal artifacts, space program artifacts, and photos. 

All the items have been loaned to the space center by the engineer’s family. 

According to Dickow, the new exhibit offers both external and internal benefits for the community and the CMSC.

“The external goal for the public is to offer some insight as to the local history," said Dickow. "Here’s a guy who grew up in the Midwest, moved to Downey, and made the meat of his career here…this site really made Downey famous, right? So here’s the guy in charge of the main engineering…

"I think if we can provide a context for it and actually give something to the section of the public that has wanted to look at Downey’s history here, I think that’s kind of what we’re doing.…Internally though, it’s been a great training experience for certain members of our staff who really want to do this kind of work – they’ve been able to get into this, figure out how you do an exhibit, how you write text, all that kind of stuff.” 

The exhibit was unveiled on Saturday, and will be on display for the rest of 2016.