Annual Banquet at the USS Hornet:
50th anniversary of Apollo 11
A dinner meeting, awards session, exhibit, and guided tour.
A great occasion to visit this prime national historic landmark linked to Aerospace Engineering in the San Francisco Bay Area: the US Navy aircraft carrier USS Hornet picked up the famous crew of Apollo 11 after their return to earth and ‘splashdown’ in the Pacific Ocean. This is a great event to bring your family and friends, and the future pilots and aerospace engineers of the next generation!
During this event, we will have a dinner in buffet style in the ship’s officers wardroom, a talk about the Apollo 11 Earth Landing System, given by an engineer who was directly involved in its development, an awards session, and finally there will be a special Apollo 11 themed guided tour aboard the ship, including a special exhibit on the same theme.
Talk: The Apollo 11 Earth Landing System by Anthony “Mac” Smith
This talk will consist of two main parts. The first part focuses on the pre-Apollo history, and gives a 10-year timespan overview of several milestones of the space program up to, and including, Apollo 11. The second part elaborates on the personal experiences of the speaker by means of a pre-recorded interview which was made for the Hornet Museum Archives. There will be an opportunity for Q&A at the end of the presentation.
Anthony “Mac” Smith has over fifty years of relevant technical and management experience in reliability/ availability/maintainability (RAM), component and system design, hardware test and evaluation, data management, product assurance, system safety, product RAM and operational readiness reviews, and plant maintenance optimization via the RCM methodology. He received a BSc in Mechanical Engineering at the John Hopkins University in 1953 and an MSc in Mechanical Engineering from Drexel University in 1961. He served among others as platoon leader in the US Army, spent more than 20 years at General Electric in the divisions of Missile & Space, Jet Engines, and Nuclear, and is currently still a consultant for projects in the energy, aerospace and industrial sectors. He is also an internationally recognized expert in the area of maintenance strategies and optimization of preventive maintenance programs for complex plants.
Business casual attire suggested. Please wear comfortable shoes, preferably flats, as there is a narrow set of stairs to climb.
There are a limited number of tickets. Registration will close on Saturday at midnight.
Schedule:
4:30 Doors open
5:00 Dinner starts
5:30 Awards ceremony
6:00 Speaker presentation
7:30 Docent-led tours
9:00 End
Members: $39,
Non-members: $49,
Students: $19, valid student ID required at the door
Prices will go up after September 8th
Register here: