LANCASTER – The Antelope Valley Board of Trade will be presenting a special event on Thursday, Nov. 17, 2005, at 6:30 p.m. entitled “Above the High Desert: Local Stories from the Career of Neil Armstrong.” The evening social to be held at the Essex House Hotel & Convention Center will consist of hors d’oeuvres and cocktails and will follow with a program of stories about Armstrong’s test pilot career at Edwards Air Force Base told by local friends and colleagues.
The event will be emceed by biographer and former NASA historian James R. Hansen, author of First Man: The Life of Neil Armstrong, due to be released next week. The comprehensive biography is the only Armstrong-sanctioned work on the former astronaut’s life and touts some 650 pages including photographs. The author will be available to sign copies of the book at the conclusion of the evening courtesy of Barnes & Noble Booksellers who will be on-hand.
Among the invited speakers are former test pilots William H. “Bill” Dana and Stanley P. “Stan” Butchart. The event should prove to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hear candid accounts from these history-making aerospace pioneers.
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center is one of the sponsors of the program and will also host a symposium with Hansen for its employees earlier in the day.
Tickets for the event are $20 and limited to 500. Seats may be purchased by calling the Board of Trade office at (661) 942-9581.
First Man (PDF, 88 kb)
