SpaceProjects.com's Rich Robins has written a report of the recent FAA conference on space transportation, with a special focus on Patrick Collins and issues close to Space Future's heart:

On February 6, 2001, SpaceFuture.comīs own Professor Patrick Collins gave a provocative, reform-oriented conference presentation in Washington D.C. for the U.S. Federal Aviation Administrationīs Administrator for Space Transportation entitled "The Prospects for Passenger Space Travel". Hundreds of aerospace professionals filled the auditorium where the ASTīs 4th annual conference on commercial space transportation took place. As Dr. Collinsī presentation was one of the first of the entire conference, crowd attendance and attentiveness were at their peak. Taking advantage of the captive audience, the U.K.-born Dr. Collins raised issues not normally addressed in the United States regarding its previously relatively unquestioned space program. The key issues raised about NASAīs "underperformance" resonated with nearly everyone, both during the conference and in several cases beyond.

Read the full article here. Thanks to Rich Robins for his excellent eyewitness account.