The baby in the photo from the early 1950s wears an impish smile while playing with his dad’s shoe. Huntsville native Frank Broyles learned early to be creative and dream big.
His photo was among nine runners-up in the Redstone “Space Baby” contest. Nancy Joyce Carpenter, 11 months, was announced as the winner on the front page of the Redstone Rocket on Sept. 29, 1953. She was selected to receive a ticket to the moon. Eight of the nine runners-up would get a ticket to one of the planets in the solar system; and one would receive a pass to a satellite station planned as a way station to other planets.
Broyles, now 73 and a community pastor in the Rocket City, did in fact get a certificate for a trip to Mars. It was signed by Wernher von Braun. The certificate got lost through the years, but Broyles will always have the legacy of being selected from among 52 Space Baby contestants…