MADISON, AL – Despite the cool, misty weather, hundreds of local residents flocked to Toyota Field on Sunday morning to witness the livestreamed splashdown of the Orion capsule on the big screen.

Hosted by the Rocket City Trash Pandas and the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, the event featured a variety of family friendly activities, concessions, and food trucks along with booths sponsored by NASA contractors Boeing, United Launch Alliance (ULA), Teledyne Brown Engineering, and Lockheed Martin.

The jubilant crowd was joined by Marshall Space Flight Center director Jody Singer and Space Launch System (SLS) Program Manager John Honeycutt along with Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle and Madison Mayor Paul Finley.

“It’s been a pleasure to see it all come together but nothing has been better than seeing the launch in the wee hours of that morning,” Honeycutt said. “The rocket business is risky. First-time rockets are generally only a 50/50 proposition. From what we’ve learned today, we’re only expecting to get better.”

Singer beamed with joy as she expressed her appreciation for the community’s support of the mission throughout.

“With the splashdown of the Orion, it demonstrates our ability to work together,” she said.

“It makes us understand that our nation is going back to the Moon,” Singer added. “This splashdown is not the end of our journey. It is not the end, but the beginning. It represents the beginning of what this nation can do and what we as a team can do.”

Singer lauded the international cooperation that continues to fuel the space program’s future, adding that the ultimate destination is Mars. “I can tell you, we’ll be a part of it,” she said, stating that Marshall Space Flight Center and its partners will be involved in developing habitation systems alongside the rockets that will get them and their future occupants to their destinations.

“There’s just so much more that this opens up for our communities, for our business, for our next generation, things that we want to work on. This is for the next generation, and I’ll tell you–this community will continue to be a part of it,” Singer concluded.

Following the flawless splashdown of the Orion capsule at 11:40 a.m., cheered on by the jubilant crowd, the Trash Pandas made their own splash with the unveiling of their new Halo Blue uniforms, the first addition to their on-field collection since the team’s first season in 2021.

According to a Trash Pandas spokesperson, the sky blue color of the jersey and hat represents the “captivating color of Earth’s atmosphere.”

The jersey features Rocket City across the front and a sleeve patch paying homage to the Trash Pandas’ Major League affiliate, the Los Angeles Angels. The blue cap features the Trash

Pandas’ alternate logo, a stylized white R and C thatsignifies Rocket City with the R in the shape of a rocket and the C representing a halo. The new jerseys will make their on-field debut at the Trash Pandas’ season opener against the Chattanooga Lookouts at Toyota Field at 6:35 p.m. on Friday, April 7, 2023.