Inqlings: Big blast for Philly's rocket man

Northeast Philly native

Chris Ferguson

will have a huge ground crew Friday when he takes off in the space shuttle Endeavor, which he will command on a 12-day mission to service the International Space Station.

His mother,

Mary Ann Pietras

, says that between his family and that of his Norristown-raised wife, the former

Sandy Cabot

, there will be 200 people, including his two brothers and three kids, in Florida watching liftoff.

"Chris said, 'You can invite anyone you want.' So I did," says Pietras, who says 500 friends and family attended his first shuttle launch, in 2006.

Ferguson, 47, an Archbishop Ryan and Drexel grad (and former Inquirer carrier), "always said, 'I'm going to be an astronaut,' " says his mother. "I told him, 'You can be whatever you want to be.' "

NASA called the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp. last week to provide Philadelphia photos for the preflight ceremonies.

Speaking of space: The Philadelphia Education Fund will honor

Guion "Guy" Bluford

, the first African American astronaut (1983) and a four-time shuttler, at its EDDY Awards on Thursday. That morning, he'll speak at Guion S. Bluford Elementary School in West Philly. The former Hanna School was named after him in 1994.

The giant piñata sitting in the lot at Broad Street and Washington Avenue may finally get cracked open today. Carnival Cruise Lines built the 61-foot-tall donkey to set a Guinness record. The plan was to open it last Sunday amid a party atmosphere (raffles for free cruises and the like) and to film the candy drop as a TV commercial. Problem was, too many people showed up and police shut the production. The crew plans to shoot the commercial with a controlled cast of paid extras. No raffle, either. By the way, the piñata is stuffed with generic candy, as Carnival does not want to tout name brands on camera.

St. Joe's basketball coach

Phil Martelli

floored the crowd at Thursday's Achievement in Radio Awards at the Hilton on City Avenue: "I want to thank SEPTA. I just got back from the Phillies parade." He introduced WIP's

Howard Eskin

, recipient of the lifetime achievement award at the AIRs, the radio equivalent of the Emmys. Eskin, puddling up, called himself the "luckiest man alive." The late

Jim O'Brien

told a 21-year-old Eskin back in 1972: "Work like today could be your last day on the job, as it very well could be." A great tribute video, starring a slew of sports personalities, is at

» READ MORE: www.wip.com

.

WOGL (98.1), notably the morning show's

Bill Zimpfer

, was the big AIR winner. Zimpfer won for both newscast and sports reporting as WOGL won for morning show (

Ross Brittain & the Breakfast Club

), evening show (

Bob Charger

), traffic reporter (

Bob Kelly

) and weekend show (

Cadillac Jack

, now assigned to afternoons).

No media awards ceremony would be complete without a winner who is no longer at his or her station. WPHT's prize for one-time news program ("Remembering the Events of 9/11") went to producer

Ed Palladino

, voice

Dom Giordano

and writer/voice

Susan Monday

; CBS downsized Monday out of a job last month.

Among winners:

Midday show:

Casey

(WRDW)

Afternoon show:

Kris Stevens

(WXTU)

Overnight show:

Late Night With JC

(WRDW)

Talk show:

Big Money Show With Steve Cordasco

(WPHT)

Live sports event coverage:

Scott Franzke and Larry Andersen

(Phillies, on WPHT)

Best newscaster:

Bill Tafrow

(WBEB)

Big week ahead for

Kenny Gamble

and

Leon Huff

, main men behind Philadelphia International Records. They'll be interviewed (as will

Patti LaBelle

,

Nona Hendryx

and

Sarah Dash

of Labelle,

?uestlove

,

Kindred

and

Jazmine Sullivan

) as part of the new VH1 Soul series

Soul Cities

(9 p.m. Tuesday), a travelogue hosted by

Nelson George

. Gamble and Huff will be feted Thursday at a red-carpet premiere screening of the PBS special

Love Train: The Sound of Philadelphia

at the Ritz East. The special, shot at the Borgata in Atlantic City on June 7, will premiere in two parts starting Thanksgiving weekend.

Curtis Institute of Music grad

Lang Lang

will visit his alma mater (1726 Locust St.) at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday to talk about his autobiography,

Journey of a Thousand Miles: My Story

. It's first come, first seated. Lang Lang's story is most poignant, as he and his abusive father lived in squalor in Beijing while he was a young student.

Mount Ephraim's

Mandy Tettman

and

Mike Ferrer

turn up tonight on the bridal show

My Fair Wedding

(10 p.m., WE tv). Event planner

David Tutera

transforms Tettman's idea of a '50s-inspired potluck wedding dinner into something considerably grander.

Hottie actor

Robert Pattinson

, who plays a vampire in the movie

Twilight

, will meet and greet at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Hot Topic store at the Plaza at King of Prussia. Those who buy a

Twilight

shirt at the store that day will get a wristband to hold a place in line. After the signing, Pattinson will hang around to answer questions. The love story opens Nov. 21.

The New York Giants'

Osi Umenyiora

, fresh off of tonight's Eagles-Giants game, will be on QVC at 8 p.m. tomorrow to appear as "expert guest" on the retailer's NFL Shop.

Eagles linebacker

Stewart Bradley

got much attention at Wednesday's Philadelphia Magazine singles-issue launch party at 10 Arts at the Ritz-Carlton. Bradley, who just turned 25, told photog

HughE Dillon

that he's looking for a woman who not only has common interests but also can cope with his travel schedule and what he called the groupie effect. Must be something like a West Coast offense.

Much commotion Thursday night as two flatbeds, each bearing black 2009 Maseratis, pulled up at 15th and Walnut. Explanation: Center City's

Dana Spain-Smith

had been shopping for new wheels that day at F.C. Kerbeck in Palmyra, and was torn between the red interior or the tan. Owner

Frank Kerbeck

, tipped that she and her family were going to Butcher & Singer steakhouse for her birthday dinner, arranged an in-person look-see of the two Gran Turismos. (Spain-Smith, now 39, and her father,

Bernie Spain

, 74, share a birthday.) Spain-Smith chose red (list price: $128,000), and the flatbed carted away her 2005 Bentley GT. Kerbeck picked up the dinner check, too.