PHOENIX (AP) — Buzz Aldrin, the Apollo 11 astronaut who walked on the moon in 1969, plans to be among the first to stroll above the Grand Canyon in a massive, glass-bottomed observation deck.The Hualapai Indian Reservation, which owns the so-called Skywalk, paid Aldrin, 77, to join its March 20 opening ceremony, according to a Las Vegas public relations firm working with the tribe. Hualapai Chairman Charlie Vaughn and astronaut John Herrington plan to meet him in the middle of the walkway.
The Skywalk is a massive $30 million, horseshoe-shaped observation deck that will extend 70 feet from the canyon wall. When completed, designers say it will offer bone-chilling views of the canyon floor and the Colorado River 4,000 feet below.
Members of the Hualapai will be the first to cross the Skywalk on March 19. The tribe will charge visitors $25 to walk across the deck starting March 28.
The Hualapai decided to build the Skywalk at the canyon's rim in hopes of luring tourists to the remote region 90 miles west of Grand Canyon National Park. Plagued with double-digit unemployment, the tribe has invested heavily in making their reservation a vacation destination in hopes of drawing some of the 4.1 million tourists who visit the national park each year.
They've billed the Skywalk as a technological marvel and the centerpiece of a new development that includes an Indian "village" and a mock-up of a frontier town.
The deck is supported by steel beams that are anchored 46 feet into the rock on the lip of the canyon. It's designed to withstand canyon winds of 100 mph and should be able to hold a few hundred people without bending.
Architects also installed shock absorbers in the glass floor to keep the observation deck from wobbling up and down as people walk across the surface.
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