posted 11-19-2008 07:08 AM               

Mattingly talked about what it was really like to watch Apollo 13, as opposed to the movie. One mistake, he told the producers, was when he (Gary Sinise) was standing next to a Corvette watching the launch.

"Oh, we knew you would never stand that close," the producers said.

"It's not that," Mattingly said. "I never had a Corvette."

There was an overflow crowd, watching the talk not only from the hall's upper seating (think typical lecture hall), but also by TV from another hall across the way.

Unfortunately, Mattingly talked sans mike. I believe there was one at the lecturn, so I don't know whether he forewent one because he wanted to walk across the stage or there wasn't a wireless mike. Even if you knew the story of Apollo 13, there were still parts of his talk that you missed. (I'll drop an email to TPTB later.)

posted 11-19-2008 10:31 AM               

We were sitting behind you on the right, about four or five seats down the row. I was going to say Hi, but I lost you in the crowd when it ended. The sound was definately a problem, but the amount of small kids that weren't interested in the least was my biggest peeve! The family behind me took their kids out of soccer practice to attend and the kids complained the whole time.

All in all, it was a nice presentation. I decided to see if anyone was waiting to see if he would sign. There was about 20 people waiting behind the stage. One of the attendants with the blue NASA shirt said he was going back to ask him if he was coming out, but after 30 minutes he didn't come out either. I assume he didn't make an appearance.