posted 08-29-2004 07:28 PM               

In a moment I'll always remember I had a few minutes to speak with him, show him the Apollo 11 Robbins medal I had brought with me and have a couple of photos taken. As I found out later in the evening many people at the tribute had no idea he was there or didn't recognize him until he was introduced. He was very accessible and at ease before dinner but after his introduction he was surrounded by those wanting a photo or to shake his hand.

It was great to see his humble acceptance of a standing ovation 35 years after the moon landing.

By coincidence while walking to the bar after dinner I ran into Dick Rutan. From the first moment we started talking he seemed like one of the nicest guy's you could meet. When I mentioned my background in aviation and present work in satellites he enthusiastically went into a discussion about the sad shape of the current space program and how he wants to take the bureaucracy out of space flight. I actually cut the conversation short thinking that I was keeping him from something.

posted 09-01-2004 06:11 PM               

And astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, admitted that he'd like to command a starship.

posted 09-07-2004 07:09 PM               

I commanded three different types of spacecraft flying as fast as 25,000 miles an hour. None of them had warp drive. The Enterprise was 100,000 times faster than anything I ever flew. Our craft did not have the ability to leave the solar system. It did not have a transporter to descend onto a planet. It would have been far more effective and less traumatic if we could have beamed down to the moon, rather than use the Lunar Excursion Module.

When I get that command, I want a chief engineering officer like Montgomery Scott.