Today began as I walked into the Von Braun Center at 9:00 this morning to attend the 50th Anniversary Space Symposium, a three paneled celebration of the 50th anniversary of the launch of the first U.S. satellite, Explorer 1. I claimed a seat in the fourth row near the center, right behind the rows sectioned off for the media and VIPs. NASA and CSPAN were filming.

The first panel, entitled Remembering Explorer 1, was chaired by Frederick Ordway (founding member of the National Space Society, author, and technical advisor for the film 2001: A Space Odyssey) and George Whitesides (Executive Director of NSS). Unfortunately, Ernst Stuhlinger is in the hospital, so Konrad Dannenberg took all of the old Von Braun rocket team questions. He repeated a point he made the last time I heard him speak at the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik, that if Sputnik hadn't launched first, the U.S. wouldn't have been so successful in our space exploration efforts. He noted that Explorer 1 (a civilian scientific mission which led to the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belts) was the first peaceful space mission.

National Academy of Science member Dwayne Day spoke about the lesser known early space history: the Air Force and the Central Intelligence Agency's role in the U.S. space program. The Air Force was interested in space exploration for reconnaissance and meteorological studies. Richard Bissell, a member of the CIA, noticed the AF's efforts. He realized that international relations would benefit from having a civilian space mission before a military space mission, and he created the Freedom of Space policy, which declared our right to use space for both scientific and military purposes. In 1960, the first reconnaissance image was taken from space.

NASA Chief Historian Steven Dick spoke next about the iconic image of William Pickering (then director of JPL), James van Allen, and Werner von Braun holding over their heads a replica of Explorer 1 in Washington, D.C. at a 1 AM press conference a few hours after its January 31 launch. The next speaker was Roger Launius (Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, former NASA Chief Historian), who spoke of the reaction to the launch of Sputnik, and the choice the U.S. made in forming NASA.

Finally, a special guest speaker walked on stage: Nataliya Koroleva, daughter of Sergei Korolev, head of Soviet space program. Not much was known about him until very recently, when information became declassified. His daughter gave a short speech in broken English describing how both her father and von Braun wanted very much to go to Mars. In an impromptu photo shoot, she posted with a to-scale model of Sputnik while three of the panelists (Dannenberg included) recreated the iconic image described above with a model of the Explorer 1.

After a short break, the next panel, entitled Real Space Cowboys, began. Astronauts Scott Carpenter (Mercury-Atlas 7), Tom Stafford (Gemini 6A, Gemini 9A, Apollo 10, and Apollo-Soyuz), and Charlie Duke (Apollo 16) spoke, prompted by panel chair Ed Buckbee (Director Emeritus of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center and founder of Space Camp). The first half was a discussion between Buckbee and each astronaut describing a disconnected series of photos or video clips relating to each astronaut's career. Some amusing stories were told, such as Duke jumping so high on the Moon that he fell over backwards.

About half-way through the panel, Stafford mentioned a few fellow astronauts by named, "who are in the audience somewhere." The moderator asked them to stand. Two rows in front of me and two seats down, Jim Lovell (Apollo 8 and Apollo 13) and Walt Cunningham (Apollo 7) stood. I was floored that those famous Apollo astronauts were so close to me and I hadn't realized, but the best was yet to come.

The second half of the panel was the best. Ed Buckbee asked the astronauts a number of questions written by audience members. Carpenter thought that Explorer 1 represented new hope and inspiration, and Duke thought it was a proud moment. Carpenter admitted that some of the details of the movie The Right Stuff weren't correct, but the major events were factual. Duke described the problem the astronauts had with the bags of Tang. Stafford explained that, as test pilots, they were all used to risk. Duke quoted a popular saying, "NASA trains the fear out of you." Both Duke and Stafford explained that they were paid based on their military rank, and received no extra pay as astronauts (except Duke was paid a per diem bonus while on the Moon, which totaled $13.75). Carpenter described the reward as being satisfaction beyond money. Carpenter stated that he thinks a human mission to Mars is inevitable, Stafford questioned our political will to go to Mars, and Duke expressed his excitement about the current unmanned mission successes on Mars and elsewhere.

During the lunch break, I was able to move up a row. My friend Tom began naming some of the astronauts sitting directly in front of us, including Cunningham, Rusty Schweickart (Apollo 9), Dick Gordon (Apollo 12), and Buzz Aldrin (Apollo 11 Moon landing)!

The final panel was The Next 50 Years in Space, led by Steve Cook (Ares project manager at MSFC). Space writer Leonard David spoke first about his interest in space as a kid and touched upon the future missions to the Moon, Mars, and asteroids.

Author Homer Hickam (Rocket Boy, turned into the movie October Sky) retold a cute story of when he was a kid, he asked Senator John Kennedy (campaigning to become the Democratic candidate for president) what he thought about space exploration, to which Kennedy responded by asking Hickam what he thought. Hickam said that we should go to the Moon, and Kennedy asked him why. Coming from a coal mining town, Hickam replied that they could “mine the blamed thing!"

Tim Pickens (NSS HAL5 member, lead propulsion developer for Burt Rutan on SpaceShipOne, and founder and president of Orion Propulsion) spoke about space entrepreneurship. He stated that now is a turning point for space exploration in government and industry, and that we need to figure out how to build space hardware cheaply and make use of "lessons learned."

Steve Cook showed a neat interactive computer-game-like simulation presentation of an Ares vehicle and crew launch, mission to the Moon, and landing back on Earth. He elaborated on the advances since the Apollo era, and the plan to develop a long-term base on the lunar surface. Cook described the designing, building, and manufacturing processes taking place around the country.

Finally, Steve Cook asked the panelists a couple of questions. He asked Pickering about entrepreneurship, which Pickering responded with, “Vision without funding is a hallucination.” He advised future entrepreneurs to start small, diversify, create partnerships, and find a niche. Cook asked David and Hickam about writing. David stressed the importance of getting involved and participating in the space efforts, which is easy to do now with the Internet.

It was an incredible symposium which was well worth attending.