About
Our Mission
To educate, inspire, awe and delight students of all ages about the wonders of the Universe through fun, unique, entertaining and educational tour adventures – highlighting aviation, astronomy, S.T.E.M. studies, the U.S. Space Program, Space Exploration, Space Careers and the brilliant women and men behind all the dreams.
Our Founder
Elizabeth
Elizabeth Schneider is the proud creator and founder
of Galactic Medallion - her unique/boutique tour and
travel company specializing in ”all things space”
with a “twist” for the Earthbound.
A former high school French teacher, lifelong
traveler, astronomy lover and travel industry
professional, Elizabeth turned her passion for
teaching and languages into a 40+ year career as a
multi-lingual tour guide in the Central Florida
area.
She has worked with hundreds of leisure and business
tour groups from around the world. Whether her
guests are elementary school students, a delegation
of conventioneers or the discerning luxury traveler,
Elizabeth enthusiasm, passion and knowledge of all
things “space” is contagious. Come join her for a
totally unique Space Experience that will last a
life time!
Her Inspiration
Grand - Daddy Bill Wheatley
Grandpa Goetz
Grand-Daddy Bill was an aircraft
test pilot – considered an “astronaut” of yesteryear
- and a pioneer in the newly emerging aviation
industry in the early 1920s. Fearless and with a
daredevil spirit, his earlier jobs included being an
Air Mail pilot – a harrowing assignment during the
winter months in his adopted hometown of Buffalo,
New York. He was also credited with transporting
photographs taken at Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1933
Inauguration in Washington DC, for same-day
publication in the Buffalo evening newspaper.
His proudest achievement during his short 37-year
life was being the Chief Test Pilot for Consolidated
Aircraft Company – primary manufacturer of the PBY
Flying Boat and the B-24 Liberator Bomber – both
major contributors to the Allies’ air warfare
efforts during WWII.
Tragically, during a final test flight in June 1941,
before delivery to the British Royal Air Force, the
B-24 that Daddy Bill was flying experienced a
catastrophic mechanical failure and crashed into the
Pacific Ocean. But his heroism, passion for flying
and unbounded desire to conquer the skies lives on
in the spirit of today’s astronauts.
Grandpa Goetz , Elizabeth’s other
grandfather, instilled in her his passion and
curiosity about the wonders of the universe. A
quiet, dutiful blue-collar worker by day and a
brilliant, self-taught scientist/astronomer by
night, without any formal training he designed,
engineered and constructed an astronomical
observatory in his backyard in Hamburg, New York.
The observatory housed a 10-inch diameter telescope
that he also built himself, even grinding and
polishing the telescope’s mirror. The telescope was
situated on an equatorial mount which compensated
for the earth’s rotation to permit time-lapsed
photography, particularly of Grandpa Goetz’s
favorite planet, Saturn.
During summer visits as a young teenager, Elizabeth
would join Grandpa Goetz in the evenings as he
crawled through the tiny doorway of the observatory
to gaze through the telescope into the night sky.
Here they would take turns marveling at the details
of the surface of the moon, or the curious rings of
Saturn, or the vast infinity of stars comprising the
Milky Way galaxy. This experience left Elizabeth
mesmerized, opening her eyes to the expansiveness
and enormity of the Universe, and leaving an
indelible impression on her heart and mind which
remains today.
What our Clients Say
Loved my day at the Space Center. An awesome and also emotional experience.
Pam Dikeou
Everyone should be in awe of our space pioneers and those who gave their lives to be a part of this “new frontier.”
Carol Rosenfelt
From start to finish it was a great, fun and elegant way to see what we in the USA have done and can do!