Alan Ladwig - Author, Part One

In this episode:   We meet author of "See You in Orbit? Our Dream of Spaceflight" by Alan Ladwig. Between 1981 to 1990, Alan held a variety of positions at NASA Headquarters, including Manager of the Space Flight Participant Program, Director of Special Projects for the Office of Exploration, and Manager of the Shuttle Student Involvement Program. In addition, Alan was in charge of NASA’s Space Flight Participant program in the 1980s, which included the Teacher in Space Program, most famously known for its selection of Christa McAuliffe as the first teacher, and civilian to be chosen to fly to space.   Alan tells us about how he came to work for NASA the day before a government hiring freeze. Alan also shares insights into the thousands of letters he received and would respond to from citizens who wanted to go to space, including one young man who wrote countless letters and kept his dream and eventually worked with NASA and has a commercial spaceflight booked.   Alan also shares the process that was involved with the selection of sending a teacher to space, including the original debate, who should go to space? A teacher? Journalist? Jacques Cousteau's son? Walter Cronkite?   For more information on Alan and his current pursuits, visit his website at toorbitproductions.com, and visit his Facebook page to view his space-inspired artwork. Alan’s book is available for purchase at amazon.com.   Stay tuned for Part Two of this podcast, coming soon.   Introductory and closing music: Paint the Sky by Hans Atom (c) copyright 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/hansatom/50718 Ft: Miss Judged