In many ways Oberg is the Carl Sagan of space engineering. He's worked in the trenches at NASA as an engineer (Johnson Space Center in Houston 1975-1997) but he has a talent for bringing his area of expertise to the masses. He's big, friendly, engaging, and surprisingly telegenic for an engineer in his fifties. He speaks English, French, and Russian and has used his language skills and friendly demeanor to gain access to the heart of the Russian and European space establishments. He's in the golden rolodex. He gives testimony before congress. He appears on PBS, cable news, and the Discovery channel. He writes for a wide range of publications about space engineering.
Oberg is probably best known for authoring Red Star in Orbit, a history of the Soviet space effort up until 1981. In 1991, PBS transformed his book in a documentary series. HBO has optioned Red Star in Orbit for some future made-for-TV miniseries.
Oberg is also a proud, card-carrying member of CSICOP. He was part of a small maelstrom of controversy in 2004 when it was revealed NASA had contracted him to write a book that finally takes on the "moon landings were a hoax" crowd. The book was to address the hoax "proof" point by point and showing why the thesis is based on a poor understanding of basic physics. Oberg was to be paid $15,000 for the book. Critics felt that if NASA made it an official publication it would give credibility to the hoax theory. Oberg himself declared he'd write the book on his own dime.
What's fascinating about Oberg is his involvement as a skeptic in the world of UFO nuts. For years, and to this day, he's been a regular haunt on newsgroups like alt.alien.visitor. With humor and a vast store of knowledge he takes on the "they're up there!" UFO crowd. It's quite a joy to watch the wild eyed UFO nuts accusing Oberg of being a NASA/CIA stooge, falsely attributing quotes to him, and generally just raging at someone who not only doesn't share their point of view but does not share it based on a sound body of historical and technical knowledge they lack. The man has patience. He seems to best the UFO fringe time and time again. It's a joy to watch.
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