Dr Tom Crouch

Tom Crouch is Senior Curator of the Division of Aeronautics at the National Air and Space Museum. Since 1974, he has served both the National Air and Space Museum (NASM) and the National Museum of American History (NMAH) in a variety of curatorial and administrative posts. Tom has written several award-winning books, including Eagle Aloft: Two Centuries of the Balloon in America and The Bishop's Boys: A Life of Wilbur and Orville. His other works include Bleriot XI: The Story of a Classic Airplane; A Dream of Wings: Americans and the Airplane, 1875-1905 and several other notable publications. Throughout his career, has also played a major role in planning exhibitions and managing museum collections. President Clinton appointed Dr. Crouch to the Chairmanship of the First Flight Centennial Federal Advisory Board, an organization created to advise the Centennial of Flight Commission on activities planned to commemorate the 100th anniversary of powered flight. Tom is now completing his latest book, Lighter than Air: A Concise History of Balloons and Airships.

Dr Valerie Neal

Dr. Valerie Neal joined the Museum as a curator in 1989 and is responsible for artifact collections from the Space Shuttle era and International Space Station, most prominently the orbiter Discovery. She led the Museum’s effort to prepare shuttle test vehicle Enterprise for permanent display and to acquire Spacelab, SpaceShipOne, and the Manned Maneuvering Unit for the national collection. She worked closely with NASA and Museum staff to orchestrate the transfer of Discovery to the Smithsonian and the release of Enterprise back to NASA in 2012. She has curated two major exhibitions: Where Next Columbus? on the challenges of future exploration, and Space Race.

Dr. Neal’s publications include two edited books on space exploration, Spaceflight: A Smithsonian Guide (1995) and Where Next, Columbus? The Future of Space Exploration (1994). Her articles on shuttle history have appeared in History and Technology and Space Policy. She has been instrumental in the production of two Smithsonian Channel documentaries about the shuttle. Her current projects are completing a book and exhibition on spaceflight in and beyond the Space Shuttle era.