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Allen brothers to share stories -- from small towns to outer space
Former NASA astronaut Joe Allen and his brother Dr. David Allen, a noted public health administrator and advocate, will be speaking at the Putnam County Museum Thursday, June 9.
Their comments will begin at 2 p.m. and extend until about 4 p.m. as part of the museum Bicentennial Speaker Series.
The public is invited to the free event at the museum on Greencastle's north side, 1105 N. Jackson St.
David Allen will speak first, and is expected to delve into the Allen family history in Putnam County. His remarks are expected to will include reflections on the Allen Brothers store from the 1870s, Dr. Perc Allen (their father) who had a long and distinguished career as a DePauw University professor, and years spent as DePauw undergrads by each brother.
David's career has covered practicing medicine, working in medical research, time at the Center for Disease Control, public health advocacy in Washington, as well as leadership positions in public health in both Tennessee and Kentucky, where he served as commissioner of health.
Joe Allen is a member of the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame as well as the U.S. National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
A 1959 DePauw graduate, Allen was selected as a scientist-astronaut by NASA in August 1967 as a member of the second group of scientist-astronauts.
His lengthy career with NASA included ground support for many missions, and was highlighted by two trips into space during the early years of the Space Shuttle program.
Allen served as mission specialist on STS-5 (Space Shuttle Columbia), the first fully operational flight of the Shuttle Transportation System, which launched Nov. 11, 1982.
He was a mission specialist on STS 51-A, which launched from Kennedy Space Center on Nov. 8, 1984 as the second flight of orbiter Discovery. It completed 127 orbits of the Earth in 192 hours before landing. With the completion of that flight, Allen logged a total of 314 hours in space.