Museum Lecture Series

Space pioneers share their experiences during a presentation titled “The Dorian Files Revealed: The Manned Orbiting Laboratory Crew Members’ Secret Mission in Space.” During the presentation, the National Reconnaissance Office revealed information about recently declassified elements of the program.

Former test pilot Paul Metz discusses the evolution of the F-22 Raptor, tracing the military, geo-political and technical forces that drove the more than 30-year search for an Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF).

Air Force Special Operations Command historian Herbert A. Mason Jr. discusses the "Contributions USAF Special Operations Forces Have Made to the Development of Air and Space Power, 1942 to 2012."

Retired Col. Gaillard R. Peck Jr. addresses the 10-year period that the U.S. Air Force secretly trained Air Force, Navy and Marine fighter aircrews in an advanced joint training program against actual Soviet MiG jet fighters.

Retired Maj. Gen. John Borling shares his experiences as a prisoner of war, along with the poetry and prose he composed and memorized.

Col. Robert A. Strasser and Lt. Col. Tay W. Johannes discuss experiences in building the Afghan Air Force, including resources, organizational interactions, mission objectives and how historical events have influenced decision making.

Phil Pressel discusses the last orbiting reconnaissance camera that used film for photography and how it played an important part in U.S. intelligence and aerospace history.

Dr. Squire L. Brown discusses the museum’s Research & Development Gallery, which exhibits a unique collection of aircraft that challenged the imagination and pushed the boundaries of flight.

Dr. David K. Stumpf gives an overview of the Titan II program, culminating in a discussion of just how close a Soviet weapon would have had to come to incapacitate the silo.

Retired Col. Joseph Sweeney, the son of Bockscar pilot Gen. Charles Sweeney who was at the controls when the aircraft dropped the bomb on Aug. 9, 1945, will speak about his father and World War II.