This is a tale of 2 women. The first is Millicent Rogers who was a fashionista and New York socialite and heiress from the 1940’s who, among other things, allegedly had an affair with Clark Gable. She moved to Taos in 1947 and became a philanthropist and a big connoisseur of the arts: Native American weaving, pottery and especially jewelry, Spanish religious iconography and more. She died at 49 and her family created a museum to showcase her collection with other pieces as well. This is a great tribute to her and more, to Southwestern art.
The other woman is Dr Shannon Walker, a NASA astronaut who has been to the International Space Station twice. She was in the Wild River Recreation area with a team who is studying the geology of the area as it a very similar to what is on the moon. She held a talk there and we were so lucky to be able to attend. Here are some fun facts we learned: the ISS goes around the earth every 90 minutes. They cannot eat crunchy food as leaves crumbs which can get in their eyes and the other equipment. Their spacesuit weighs 200lb. There are 6 pods interconnected and each is the size of a school bus and they sleep suspended in little lockers and don’t need pillows. Everyone has to learn and be able to speak Russian as it is a cooperative arrangement with them and they do half of the launching and landing. 30% of the astronauts are women.
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