(Submitted Photo)

NORWICH – General Laboratories Associates (GLA) was originally founded in Guilford and subsequently relocated to Norwich, GLA was contracted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to develop and manufacture rocket stage separation igniters used during spaceship orbit launches.

Above, this project supported the Gemini XII mission to space which included astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Jim Lovell. Right, an ignition exciter made by GLA for the NASA is on display at the Chenango County Historical Museum in Norwich

The exhibit opening for “Chenango County in Fifty Stories” will take place from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. at the Chenango County Historical Society, at 45 Rexford Street in Norwich, on October 12. This will be in celebration of the Path Through History Weekend, an event that hosts a wide variety of 50 unique narratives, such as the Ignition Exciter are chronicled in the exhibit. (Photos provided by the Historical Society)