Roy writes:

> >After attending now 40 years worth now of scientific conferences, military
>  >and NASA planning sessions, at a rate of anywhere from two to five a
year,
> I
>  >cannot ever remember a single line being quoted on any slide from a
science
>  >fiction author.
>
>  Taking Jeff's protagonist only, and using NASA as another keyword, taken
>  from your posting, it didn't take me very long to Google up:
>
>  http://www.sabine-mag.com/archive/ar05006.htm
>
>  (from which I will quote no more than I need)
>
>  Heinlein.......received the NASA Public Service Medal posthumously which
>  is "only granted for citizens....who have provided meritous service...to
>  the accomplishment of the mission of NASA".

NASA, like any large organization, particularly one based on military
traditions, hands out various certificates of award constantly. For a list of
NASA's more meritorious awards, see:

     http://nasapeople.nasa.gov/employeebenefits/awards/nasamedals.htm

...although the "Silver Snoopy" (I'm not kidding) is not listed on the page
-- and it too is very highly considered (the "Silver Snoopy" is the
astronauts' own award).

But that isn't to say that NASA isn't keenly aware of public relations; they
very much appreciate anything that raises awareness of space exploration in
the public's mind and awarding Heinlein the medal is a perfectly right and
proper thing to do.

As for the influence of science fiction, you forgot to mention that the US
Navy's first nuclear submarine was the "Nautilus" and the first space shuttle
areoshell was named "Enterprise" (although over the strong objections of NASA
itself).

Nonetheless, none of this contradicts my original statement: In 40 years of
sitting in on scientific and engineering planning missions, I've never seen a
single quote from a science fiction author ever presented on a projected
slide -- even though quotes abound.

Wirt Atmar

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