posted 03-29-2008 09:04 AM               

Joe Engle kicked off the day with a 45min lecture on the X-15, including a 10min film created at Edwards. The enthusiasm Joe had for the X-15 was profound and later in the day he confessed to enjoying flying the x-15 more than the shuttle. There were only about 40 people in the lecture, making it a great opportunity to ask questions.

Next came a fascinating lecture by Nigel Henbest, who together with Heather Couper has produced a marvellous bok on the History of Astronomy.

We then had an hour and a half on Black Knight/Arrow by some of the original scientists.

George Abbey gave a very thoughtful and unscripted talk on where NASA stands currently. He lamented the loss of manufacturing and knowledge of space technology, partly due to non-existent R&D especially in the high-speed flight area, but more significantly felt that the US needed to cooperate more internationally, including with the Chinese. However, in his words, isolation and excess fear of technology transfer meant "under the current situation, even Einstein wouldn't be allowed to enter the US."

The day was wrapped up by a round table discussion between Joe, George and famed test pilot Eric Brown (flown more a/c than any other pilot). This was immaculately hosted by Reg Turnill, the former TV Aerospace corespondent.

I'd like to thank the organisers for a great event.

posted 01-08-2009 03:46 PM               

It was a brilliant event.