It was the biggest secret of the 1960s space race, an elite group of astronauts secretly training to be the first spies in space. Millions remember the countdowns, launchings, splashdowns, and parades as the U.S. raced the Soviet Union to the moon, but few know that both countries also ran parallel space programs, whose covert goal was to launch military astronauts on spying missions.
On Saturday, March 22 KNME's "Science Café" will present a short TV segment from "Astrospies," an episode of PBS's award-winning science series NOVA, and a discussion from 10 a.m.-noon at the National Atomic Museum in Albuquerque's Old Town.
In "Astrospies," NOVA delves into the untold story of this top-secret space race, which might easily have turned into a shooting war in orbit. Then, participate in an interactive discussion with local expert Ted Spitzmiller.
Spitzmiller began his professional career in the military at the Army's Ordinance Guided Missile School in Huntsville, Alabama. He went on to nuclear weapons training at Sandia Base in New Mexico, where he taught for two years in the Atomic Weapons Training Group. He has worked for IBM, Intel, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory, from which he retired in 2001.
Admission is free, however reservations are required. Please call Ed Ulman at (505) 277-8296 by Wednesday, March 19 to RSVP.
KNME's Science Café is presented with support from New Mexico Tech, and Lockheed Martin/Sandia National Labs. For more information please contact Ed Ulman at (505) 277-8296 or visit: Science Café.
Media Contact: Evy Todd, (505) 277-1218; e-mail: etodd@knme.org
Posted by scarr at March 17, 2008 01:50 PM