From von Braun to Cousteau to Hayley, NASA Langley Research Center marks the 40th anniversary of its highly successful Colloquium Lectures and associated Sigma Series with a multimedia presentation on Tuesday, Dec. 6.

Retired NASA Langley news chief, Keith Henry will present, “At 40, NASA Colloquium Continues to Stimulate, Teach,” at 2 p.m. in the Reid Conference Center here.

Nearly 500 different Colloquium presentations were made since October 1971, exploring everything from deep ocean voyages to the far reaches of the solar system. Henry’s narration will accompany a presentation in the words of the speakers themselves through a series of recorded audio and video clips.

Henry and members of the Colloquium committee will be available to answer questions from the media during a news briefing at 1:15 p.m. that day. Media who wish to do so should contact Chris Rink at 757-864-6786, or by e-mail at chris.rink@nasa.gov, by noon on the day of the talk for credentials and entry to the Center.

That same evening at 7:30, Henry will host a similar presentation for the general public at the Virginia Air & Space Center in downtown Hampton. This Sigma Series event is free and no reservations are required.

Attendees will hear the legendary rocket scientist Wernher von Braun reveal his thoughts about the Apollo mission to the moon — still an active program at the time of his talk in the early 1970s. Jacques Cousteau will bring a serious message to those attending his presentation in 1979. And Alex Haley will explain why he thinks his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, “Roots,” was a world phenomenon in the 1980s.

Additional stand-out speakers spanning four decades will be featured in this retrospective video review of programs past including ABC News Science Editor Jules Bergman.

Henry retired at the end of 2010 after a distinguished career in federal service spanning 37 years. He is recognized by peers, management, industry and government partners, and by news media for successfully representing NASA.

At his retirement, he was the NASA Langley news chief and head of the NASA Langley News Media Team. Henry started his public affairs career at Fort Monroe in 1974 as an Army civilian, and then transferred to NASA Langley in 1979. Over the course of his 31-year NASA career, he represented every major department at Langley to the news media and to the public. He was also the executive editor of the Center employee and retiree newspaper, the Researcher News.

Henry is a graduate of Iowa State University where he earned a Bachelors Degree in communications and journalism. He also earned a Master of Science Degree from Golden Gate University in public administration.

For more information about NASA Langley’s Colloquium and Sigma Series Lectures, visit: http://shemesh.larc.nasa.gov/Lectures/