Virtual Author Talk: Valerie Neal Online
On a Mission: The History of US Women Astronauts with Smithsonian Curator Emerita Valerie Neal
A Library Speakers Consortium and Smithsonian Institution Collaboration
Join us for an exhilarating journey through the history of US women astronauts with Valerie Neal, emerita curator from the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum and expert on human spaceflight.
Brought to you in partnership with the Library Speakers Consortium.
Can't make the event? Watch a recording of this author talk at https://libraryc.org/mcl/archive.
- Date:
- Thursday, April 2, 2026
- Time:
- 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
- Time Zone:
- Eastern Time - US & Canada (change)
- Branch:
- Virtual
- Online:
- This is an online event.
- Audience:
- Adult
- Categories:
- Virtual Programs
About the Author: Valerie Neal is a space historian and Curator Emerita at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC. Her specialty is human spaceflight, space technology, and space science in the Space Shuttle era and beyond. At the Museum, she collected more than 1500 artifacts of the shuttle era, curated three exhibitions and eight documentary programs for the Smithsonian Channel (cable TV), published books and articles growing from her research, lectured in the USA and abroad, and gave many interviews for US and international media.
Before joining the Museum, she was a writer and editor for some 25 NASA publications on Space Shuttle and Spacelab missions, the Hubble Space Telescope and other Great Observatories, space science, and NASA History. She participated in underwater astronaut training in Alabama and mission support in Houston for four Space Shuttle missions. She has taught American Studies and writing courses at multiple universities. Valerie Neal holds Ph.D. and M.A. degrees in American Studies and a B.A. degree in English and History.