Wernher von Braun's Retro Hugo

Settling Into Its New Home

Patrick Molloy, who served Noreascon Four so ably as the director of site selection and as a liaison to NASA for exhibits, took on the task of getting the trophy awarded to Conquest of the Moon by Wernher von Braun, Fred L. Whipple & Willy Ley, as the Best Related Book written in 1953 to the appropriate people in the space industry. He wrote,

The Retro Hugo for Best Related Book was turned over to the chief curator of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama on October 19. The award was placed into an exhibit of science fiction's influence on the careers of von Braun and others in the early days of rocketry. This exhibit will run through May 2005, after which time the Hugo will be placed in the permanent exhibit of von Braun's office.

Pat and his wife, Naomi Fisher, arranged for some photos of the exhibit and of the placement of the Retro Hugo trophy (Naomi took the pictures …Pat settled the trophy):

After the science fiction exhibit was over, the Hugo was placed in the exhibit of von Braun's office that is on permanent display at the museum: