Aerospace historian to give talk

DOWNEY – James Busby, a child of the Space Age and noted speaker and historian on the aerospace industry, will be guest speaker at the Downey Historical Society’s Jan. 22 meeting at the Barbara Riley Center. Busby is founder of the Organization to Support Space Exploration, which was one of the first groups to do historical recreations of the Apollo moonwalks.

In 1979, they became involved with Rockwell International’s speakers bureau in Downey, where Busby was master of ceremonies for the open houses and astronaut visits to the plant until it closed.

Busby volunteered and consulted with the California Museum of Science and Industry in Los Angeles on the redesign of its aerospace museum. He was hired in 1984 as a museum assistant and was employed there for 18 years.

In 1997, actor and producer Tom Hanks asked Busby to become technical advisor for his HBO mini-series “From the Earth to the Moon.” Busby helped create a historically-accurate Emmy Award-winning series, and appeared as one of the designers in an episode.

He has also assisted in other films and TV productions, including “Apollo 13,” “Race Into Space” and “Salvage One.”

Busby was employed by the Space Frontier Foundation as director of its international lunar conferences for two years. In April 2006, he joined XCOR Aerospace in Mojave in media relations.

The historical society meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. and is open to the public. Admission is free.

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Published: Jan. 15, 2015 - Volume 13 - Issue 40