Beyond the Clouds

Moon Day at the Frontiers of Flight Museum is a wonderful time to reflect on man's greatest step and look at what the future of spaceflight might hold. I have participated in all of them with DARS, and I would highly suggest it for anyone interested in space history.

One of the benefits of attending Moon Day is that you can meet a lot of great folks (both famous and not) who hold a vision of the future that is quite uplifting and refreshing. One such person was Richard Jefferies.

If you are a Star Trek geek, the name "Jefferies" should ring a bell. That's because Richard's brother, Matt Jefferies, designed the Enterprise, the Klingon Battle Cruiser and many other items for the show. In fact, the "Jefferies Tube" engine access portal on the Enterprise was named in his honor.

Richard often went to Moon Day to sell his book about his brother, "Beyond the Clouds." A couple of years ago I bought a copy and he was kind enough to sign it for me.

The book is quite good, and focuses on Matt's whole life, not just the Star Trek phase. Richard wrote it in an easy flowing conversational style, that makes for a fairly quick read. It has tons of illustrations as well! Here are some highlights:

Front cover highlighting the Enterprise

Back cover

A quick bio of Matt

...and one of Richard. 

He added an appropriate quote for me!

An early Enterprise. Notice the details were not quite nailed down yet.

An early sketch with even more strange details.

I love this shot of Matt with the Klingon Battle Cruiser!

The final drawings of the ships.

Richard was always very willing to talk about Matt, or really anything. He didn't really push the books, but was more than happy to sell you one if you asked! I rather looked forward to dropping by and saying "hi" every year.

I noticed that he wasn't at the last couple of Moon Days, so I checked on Google and it turns out that he, sadly,  passed away in June of 2015. I'm glad that I was able to meet him and get a copy of this great book.)

If you would like your own, they are still listed on Amazon.

So, until next time, fly 'em fast and high!