NASA astronaut Major General Joe Engle will speak at the Cosmosphere tonight - Friday, July 3 - at 7 p.m. in a presentation that's free and open to the public.

A native Kansan, Engle was an X-15 pilot and spacecraft Commander on Shuttle missions. The following morning, he will be the Grand Marshal in the Hutchinson Fourth of July Parade. Engle was the youngest pilot ever to qualify as an astronaut in 1965 when he flew the X-15 to an altitude of 280,600 feet. In 1981, Engle commanded the second orbital test flight of the Space Shuttle "Columbia," and became the first and only pilot to manually fly an aerospace vehicle from Mach 25 to landing. Engle was Commander of Space Shuttle "Discovery" on flight 51-I in 1985. The crew deployed three communications satellites, and performed a successful on-orbit rendezvous and manual repair of a disabled communications satellite. Engle has flown over 185 different types of aircraft including 38 different fighter and attack aircraft. He has logged more than 14,700 flight hours - 9,900 in jets and over 224 hours in space. His military decorations include the Department of Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, and the Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster. He has also been awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, NASA Exceptional Service Medal, and NASA Space Flight Medal with device.

As "Test Pilot Emeritus" of the USAF Test Pilot School, he remains active in flying, including current jet fighter aircraft, and is also an avid outdoor sportsman and wildlife enthusiast. He has been inducted into the Kansas Aviation Hall of Fame, the Astronaut Hall of Fame, and in 2001 he was one of four aviation pioneers enshrined into the National Aviation Hall of Fame.

The "Trophy Trout," given to Pad Leader Guenter Wendt by astronaut Mike Collins on July 16, 1969, has a new home at the Cosmosphere. It is on load from Leon Ford.

The trout was "fresh" when nailed on the board and presented to Wendt. He had it in his freezer for 14 years before he found someone who could freeze dry and preserve it.

The Trophy Trout will eventually be on display at the Cosmosphere, along with other gifts the astronauts exchanged. Many of them were gag gifts, but a fresh trout took that up a notch.

During Coffee at the Cosmosphere in June, Chris Orwoll told the story of the now famous trout.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! In a time of political and economic uncertainty with the winds of change howling at the door, the people of Hutchinson stepped up and overwhelmingly passed the renewal of the ¼% sales tax proposal. People, you did not have to do that. It would have been easy to say no. Had you said no, your choice could be criticized by no one. Times are tough and money is tight. Your positive choice speaks volumes about the quality of people who live here in this unheralded part of the world. The Cosmosphere stands as a monument to the spirit of this community. I believe I speak for everyone in this great organization when I say we pledge to continue to strive to be worthy of your pride. Watch what we accomplish in the next five years.

Hello world! This is my first attempt at a blog and it may be a little rough for a while, but I will attempt to put new content out every week or two. I thought that I would just use this space to let you all know what is going on here and how things are flowing in education at the Cosmosphere. Let me know if this is useful or not...interactivity is not only acceptable, it is REQUIRED!

Well, I sure am bummed about the latest delay in the shuttle launch. I was supposed to head out to Florida for an education forum surrounding the launch and get to see a night launch. How cool would that be?! I have seen one during the day and, let me just say this...WOW! I know that there are only a handful of shuttle launches left, but if you have a chance to see one then DO IT! It was an amazing sight to behold when I went back in 1997. The launch was everything that you see on TV and then a whole lot more. Light travels faster than sound so the view was impressive but relatively calm. A few seconds later the wall of sound and heat hits you and it is intense. I am not ashamed to say that I cried when I saw it. I have spent the better part of my adult life teaching kids of all ages about space and this was COOL. I digress. When the launch is rescheduled, early 2009, I will get the chance to go out for the launch so I guess that I just have to be patient.

Last week I took the education department and about half of the marketing team to a workshop on podcasting and web presence in general. Man, is there ever a lot that I don't know about that. We are so excited though and hope to be out there in cyber space soon. We would like to be in classrooms and living rooms across the globe. I have already received multiple requests for presentations in classrooms in Texas and Kansas. We are still trying to figure it all out so this should be a ton of fun. I hope that we will get some podcasts out there soon that show off our amazing museum and our education programs. Please be kind when you see the first ones. They will not be as polished as later ones. The process should be interesting. Any ideas for what you would like to see...please let me know! My brain needs all the help that in can get! :)

Teachers Night Out is coming up as well (Nov. 21). For those of you who are unfamiliar with this event, it is a yearly event (free for and built for educators) at the Cosmosphere where we thank teachers for all of their hard work and take care of them for a change! We have vendors from all over the state and a cool keynote speaker. In addition all of the cool stuff that the Cos has to offer is available...IMAX movies, Planetarium shows, rocket demos and our world class museum. This year our speaker will be Winston Scott, retired astronaut. Captain Scott has flown in space twice and done three space walks. He will be here November 21st for Teachers Night Out and will be doing a public presentation and book signing on the 22nd. Look for more details on both events coming up.

It is Friday and I am running out of really intriguing things to talk about so I will turn it over to you. I wrote briefly about the shuttle launch that was delayed. This mission is to be the last to the Hubble Space Telescope. There was some controversy about this mission. Principally, should we even be going back to Hubble? I think that it is imperative that we get Hubble "fixed" so that we can continue to use it to explore the Cosmos. What do you think? Keep the comments thoughtful and rational please.

Should be a great weekend! Enjoy yours and keep reaching for the stars no matter how old you are. Don't let a number keep you from dreaming about the stars. We need all of the dreamers and doers we can find if we are to expand our reach beyond this oasis in the void (Earth). Until next week...

You have not seen a film until you have seen this one. Sure the story is predictable. They go to the moon and they come back. That's probably why nobody ever made a film about the Apollo 11 mission. The fly-on-the-wall concept totally works though. The flies are adorable. Real emotions in a computer animated film, that's a novelty! The animation and the sets are first rate. It may not have the finishing touch of a Pixar movie, yet in many ways this film is as groundbreaking as Toy Story 10 years ago. Best of all it was great fun, a truly unique experience for the whole family!

We are operating a restricted blog for our student campers in the Future Astonaut Training Program and selected students and teachers in the areas to ask questions and follow along in the training process Astronaut Stephen Bowen is going through to prepare for his mission (STS-126) scheduled to launch in November of 2008. Feel free to follow along in this blog as he takes us through the challenges he is facing during training.

View the blog by clicking here