NASA 1983

In August of 1983, Ivan Konig, Terry Cooper and Richard Filip put on a balloon event at NASA. It was to celebrate the 25th anniversary of NASA and the 200th anniversary of manned flight.

But it had been raining in Houston for days. Fifty balloon pilots showed up anyway. I left Austin in my pickup truck with the balloon in the back. The closer I got to Houston, the harder it rained. I arrived in Houston in rush-hour traffic. Highway construction brought traffic to a halt. The balloon was not covered well, and it was getting soaked. 

By Saturday morning the weather had improved. The winds were calm and it was not raining. However, every field around Houston was soaked. We drove to the Johnson Space Center and all 50 balloons laid out on a road at Rocket Park. We got to fly all three flights that weekend. 

It had been a lucky weekend for us, but Hurricane Alicia hit Houston the following week and caused many deaths and much damage.