Astronaut Charles Gemar honors famous South Dakotan with mural at Corn Palace by Mitchell – Mitchell Republic

MITCHELL — Retired astronaut Charles “Sam” Gemar has often been the center of attention throughout his honorable and successful career.

But the Scotland High School graduate was honored on Saturday in a way that is unique to South Dakota: He was honored by the Corn Palace as a famous citizen of South Dakota; such personalities were honored this year on the palace's famous murals.

He beamed with pride as about 100 local residents gathered at Corn Palace Plaza on Saturday afternoon to listen to Gemar, 69, talk for about an hour about his time in space, answer questions and take photos.

“It's very special to be standing here as one of the many citizens of the state of South Dakota who were considered,” he told the crowd. “That South Dakota spirit that I learned both in the grocery business at the family store and working on the farm during the summer gave me the drive and perseverance to get the job done. I think I've taken those South Dakota values ​​with me into my career.”

His mural has been painted by the likes of “Price is Right” host Bob Barker, Olympic gold medalist Billy Mills, professional basketball stars Mike Miller and Becky Hammon, World War II hero Joe Foss, Deadwood legend Wild Bill Hickok and author Laura Ingalls Wilder. Gemar's mural is located on the south side of the building, next to a space shuttle made out of corn art that leaves a colorful trail behind it.

“I definitely recognize the suit,” he joked about his spacesuit likeness on the murals. “It's really an honor. I remember coming to the Corn Palace as a kid and coming here and going to basketball games. To be on one of the murals is an incredible thing. It's a special recognition of my career.”

Marcus Traxler/Mitchell Republic

Corn Palace Director Doug Greenway said it's a special moment to visit Gemar, especially during the annual five-day Corn Palace Festival that takes place over the weekend. The famous South Dakota murals will be on display for the rest of the month, but installation will soon begin on the 2025 murals, which will be based on famous landmarks from around the world and the United States.

“I'm very grateful that he took the time to come and visit us,” Greenway said. “He seems like a true South Dakotan and he cares about his heritage. He was proud to be from here and you can hear it in his voice.”

Only two people were born in South Dakota and went into space as astronauts. Gemar was the first. Gemar was selected in 1985 and participated in space flights on the Atlantis, Discovery and Columbia spacecraft in 1990, 1991 and 1994. (Michael Fossum is the other astronaut, born in South Dakota in 1957 in Sioux Falls but raised in Texas and participating in three space flights before his retirement from NASA in 2017.)

“It's just a matter of time,” Gemar said. “I'm surprised there weren't more, but we have a lot of engineers and scientists from the state and it's only a matter of time before we get our next one from South Dakota.”

The audience bombarded Gemar with questions about what it's like in space, how nervous he is on launch day, during liftoff and re-entry, and whether or not he gets sick on flights. (He did, a lot.) To illustrate the speed of space flight – 17,000 miles per hour as the space shuttle orbits the Earth – he had viewers think about their own heartbeats.

“With every heartbeat you travel five miles,” he said.

Marcus Traxler/Mitchell Republic

In total, Gemar spent more than 24 days, or 580 hours, in space, including nearly two full weeks in 1994 when he orbited the Earth 224 times in what was then the second-longest mission in Space Shuttle history.

He said he always had a goal of becoming an astronaut, motivated by NASA's Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs in the 1960s. He said he always tells young people his career is the result of big dreams and hard work, and both are necessary.

“You have to be willing to do the work,” Gemar said. “It won't be free and there's a price of admission. But it's worth the price of admission, I can tell you that.”

Today, Gemar said he is mostly retired but works on international STEM education programs, engaging with students about opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math around the world. This year he has traveled to places including Malaysia, and last year he visited 14 countries. He said he always appreciates the chance to teach young people what is possible with space and space education.

Gemar is also proud to have returned to South Dakota after 51 years. He left Scotland at the age of 17 to attend the US Military Academy at West Point in New York State. Since August, he has been in downtown Sioux Falls, where he lives with his wife.

“I'm proud to re-proclaim my residency in South Dakota,” Gemar said. “I'm a South Dakotan, this is what we do. We're coming back.”

Marcus Traxler/Mitchell Republic

Marcus Traxler is the Mitchell Republic's deputy editor and sports editor. He has already won the state's Outstanding Young Journalist Award and the 2023 South Dakota Sportswriter of the Year. He has worked for the newspaper since 2014 and covers a wide variety of topics. Traxler is a Minnesota native and can be reached at [email protected].