NASA Looks Back on Early Space Missions with ‘A Bunch of Plumbers’ Talk

NASA’s ‘A Bunch of Plumbers’ Talk Looks Back on Early Space Missions

On Tuesday, June 7, Peggy Newcomb will present a talk based on the book “A Bunch of Plumbers” at 2 p.m. in the Pearl Young Theater at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.

“A Bunch of Plumbers” was written by her late husband, John Newcomb, who was involved in NASA’s Lunar Orbiter and Viking missions.

Newcomb 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 Michael Finneran at 757-864-6110, or by email at michael.p.finneran@nasa.gov by noon on the day of the talk for credentials and entry to Langley.

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

John Newcomb’s book pays tribute to many of the unsung heroes of the early space missions. Much of the technology developed in these early programs is still used today.

John Newcomb graduated from Virginia Tech and joined NASA Langley in 1962. He quickly became involved in the Lunar Orbiter and the Viking projects.

After Viking, he was the head of NASA’s Physics and Chemistry Experiments in Space Program that performed experiments in the free-fall environment of the space shuttle and International Space Station.

Peggy Newcomb was a chemistry teacher at York High School. Most recently, she served as an armchair editor for this book. Peggy and John were married for 50 years and have three daughters and now five grandchildren and one great grandchild.

Peggy has enjoyed writing for the local paper, and is an artist of many years. She has been president of the Poquoson Art League and the Chesapeake Bay Branch of the National League of American Pen Women. She is continuing the book talks as a legacy to the programs and her husband’s roles in them. He passed away in March 2016.

For more information about NASA Langley’s Colloquium and Sigma Series Lectures, visit:

http://colloqsigma.larc.nasa.gov/