Ray Garner, a NASA/JPL Solar System ambassador, will speak Wednesday at the Martz-Kohl Observatory. Submitted photo

FREWSBURG — “The Man on the Moon” will be presented by Ray Garner III, a NASA/JPL Solar System ambassador, live at the Martz-Kohl Observatory at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 20.

More than 50 years ago, the United States became the first nation to put a man on the moon.

That event is one for the ages and was watched by millions of people worldwide. What is less remembered are all the smaller steps required to get to the Moon.

Garner’s talk will take listeners through that journey, starting from the founding of the National Air and Space Administration (NASA), through the succeeding Apollo missions, to the voyage of Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins, and Neil Armstrong to and from the Moon.

Born in Las Vegas, Nev., and raised in Conyers, Ga., Garner has spent his whole life wondering about the universe.

After getting his B.S. in Physics from Furman University in Greenville, S.C., Garner went directly on to graduate school at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, where he is pursuing his Ph.D. in Astronomy.

His thesis work involves observing and analyzing data on the Pinwheel Galaxy (M101) to understand its chemical and dynamical evolution.

For more information, visit martzobservatory.org/zoom.