Celebrity Lecture Series: The Glass Spaceship with Gerald Blackburn, Director, Columbia Memorial Space Center Foundation.
As technological achievements in space exploration grew in
magnitude and frequency, it became clear that the ability to
operate outside of Earth's atmosphere and gravity had much
more value than merely overcoming scientific challenges. Clearly,
the space environment offered myriad practical benefits. But
those benefits had to be economically - as well as technologically -
feasible. That reality gave birth to the Space Shuttle concept. A
system that could carry people and payloads into low-earth orbit,
and bring them back again, with a vehicle that could be re-used,
again and again, would provide that kind of practical capability.
The scientific and technological challenges inherent in
development of such a system were enormous. Thousands of
talented scientists, engineers, and other specialists had to stretch
their capabilities to the limit. They succeeded spectacularly. One
of these exceptional individuals was Gerald Blackburn, a veteran
engineer, who had honed his skills on the Apollo program. Gerald
specialized in Materials and Process engineering, developing new
applications of the most advanced materials in the industry, and
then inventing new ones. His story is a fascinating one, and his
insights from past achievements offer exciting hints for future
success in space exploration.