December 4, 2003 - Washington DC

I attended the SpaceX Falcon unveiling last night. I had a really great time. The Falcon is an impressive piece of hardware and the catered reception inside the Air & Space Museum was top-notch.

Elon Musk gave a short speech at about 8:00 pm EST. However, he did not make any major new pronouncements. I also met the Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation, Patricia Grace Smith, she was ultra cool and very nice to boot! She even took a photo of me standing in front of Falcon so that I would have a picture of myself.

Everyone else that I met was very friendly, it was a wonderful experience and I wish Elon and everyone else at SpaceX the best of luck. I really do believe that private entrepreneurs are going to restore the dominance of our country's space program.

I apologize for the poor quality of the images. I am not the best photographer and my digital camera has a difficult time taking quality images in low light conditions.


View from the National Air & Space Museum, looking across Independence Avenue.
Another view from the National Air & Space Museum, looking across Independence Avenue.
Onlookers gather at the business end of the Falcon first stage.

View of the first stage engine.
Another view of the first stage engine.
View looking inside the nozzle of the first stage engine.

Me, standing in front of the first stage engine. (Special thanks to the AST Administrator!)
View from the top of the Falcon stack.
Another view from the top of the Falcon stack.

Falcon logo.
SpaceX logo.
View looking towards the top of the Falcon.

LOX valve.
Another view of the LOX valve.
Reception in the space hall of the National Air & Space Museum.

View of the Apollo Soyuz Test Project, two flat screen video displays, on the left and right, are showing a computer animation of the Falcon during launch and ascent.
View of the Apollo LM, a small orchestra is playing in the foreground.
Elon delivering his speech.

Another shot during Elon's speech.
Elon being presented with a large framed photograph of Mars.