HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) – A memorial service for Ed Buckbee was held at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center this weekend.
Buckbee was not an astronaut or a rocket scientist. He was called “Von Braun’s P-R man” and helped build the Space and Rocket Center museum.
Liz Hurley was one of the people chosen to speak about Buckbee’s life and contribution to Huntsville.
“Ed was a slick, savvy, space-age Wheeler dealer,” Hurley said. “He convinced astronauts and contractors, somehow, that their precious memorabilia didn’t belong in a drawer. It belonged right here, for the entire world to see. He had mastered the art of persuasion.”
Buckbee was a staple on late night talk shows. During one interview, he talked David Letterman into getting in an astronaut simulator, spinning him upside down to simulate zero-g.
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