2007 Hertha Heller Forum: Aerostats

2007 Hertha Heller Forum Lecture Series:Aerostat Surveillance Systems
The third Hertha Heller Forum sponsored by Friends of the Huntsville Public Library will be held on Sunday, March 25, at 2:00 p.m. in the main auditorium of the downtown branch and concludes our technology series for this year. Admission is free, and the public is invited. Refreshments will be served after the presentation.

The speaker will be Scott K. McPheeters, who directs the Directed Energy Applications, Product Office in the Army’s Cruise Missile Defense Systems Project Office under the Program Executive Office for Missiles and Space. His topic will be "Aerostat Surveillance Systems." Mr. McPheeters, born in Killeen, Texas, is a graduate of the United States Military Academy and holds advanced degrees: a Masters Applied Physics from Georgia Institute of Technology and a Masters of Business Administration from Frostburg State University. Commissioned as an Armor Officer, he later transferred to the Ordnance Corps (Electronic Maintenance) and was reassigned to the Acquisition Corps.
The use of balloons for military operations goes back to the earliest days of flight. Although fixed wing aircraft quickly replaced them, balloons continued to have their uses, and in January and February of 1956 over 448 high-altitude balloons were launched towards Russia on photographic reconnaissance sorties. Today balloons and other lighter-than-air systems are generally referred to as Aerostats, and a number of companies manufacture aerostats equipped with radar and other surveillance systems. Many of the current helium filled aerostats can be deployed and operated by a crew of just two people. Large tethered aerostat surveillance systems are in use in Iraq and along the Mexican border. Aerostat systems are being continually refined and improved and probably will soon be a common fixture wherever U.S. forces are deployed.
This Hertha Heller Forum event is sponsored by the Friends of the Library, and is free and open to the public, not just Friends of the Library. A question and answer period will follow the presentation, and refreshments will be served.
Mark your calendar!
Date: Sunday 25 March
Time: 2:00 - 3:30 p.m.
Location: Main Library
Library: Main Library
Room: Auditorium