The 10th edition of Des Moines Area Community College’s ciWeek inspiration fest will run the week of March 4 with the theme “Small Steps to Giant Leaps.” With the 50th anniversary of the first lunar landing also in play, ciWeek organizer Anthony Paustian, provost of DMACC West Campus, wanted to be sure to have a good NASA lineup. 

Three former astronauts and a former flight director will appear, including Fred Haise, the Apollo 13 lunar module pilot played by the late Bill Paxton in Ron Howard’s “Apollo 13,” the movie about the ill-fated mission that ended with the astronauts returning to Earth in the lunar module following an explosion in space. Apollo 7 astronaut Walt Cunningham, Apollo 15 astronaut Al Worden, Apollo flight director Gerry Griffin and space historian and author Rod Pyle also will appear. 

A feature film about Neil Armstrong, “First Man,” documents his history-making step onto the moon, and “First Man” book author and movie co-producer James Hansen of Auburn University will appear at ciWeek. 

Still not enough NASA? The lineup also will include Tahir Rahman, a Washington University psychiatrist who wrote “We Came in Peace for All Mankind,” about the way the Apollo 11 moon mission brought people together. 

Former Chicago rapper Will Keeps, now of Des Moines, will speak. He also wrote music for the conference’s always entertaining trailer. Also appearing: celebrity chef Roy Choi, endurance swimmer Lynne Cox, Pixar director of photography (“Coco”) Danielle Feinberg, ice cream entrepreneur Jerry Greenfield (Ben & Jerry’s), former Facebook exec Randi Zuckerberg (sister of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg), crypto currency expert Brian Nelson and Entrepreneur Magazine editor Jason Feifer. 

The event is free.