Spend "An Evening With Jay Barbree"

Jay Barbree broke the O-ring story.

He nailed the cause of the 1986 Challenger explosion -- hot gasses escaping a solid rocket booster O-ring seal -- within 24 hours of the deadly accident and had it on the air before anyone else.

Hiding in a men's room stall, he also got the skinny on a satellite launch that carried the first broadcast from space -- a recorded message from President Eisenhower -- back in 1958.

Now 73, the longtime NBC correspondent and Merritt Island resident is an institution who can lay claim to multiple scoops over a 50-year aerospace journalism career. No one else has covered all 150 human space expeditions that have blasted off from Kennedy Space Center or Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

You can read all about it in Barbree's new book, "Live From Cape Canaveral," which recently was released by Smithsonian/Collins. And you can spend "An Evening With Jay Barbree" on Thursday, Oct. 4 -- the 50th anniversary of the launch of Russia's Sputnik, an event that marked the beginning of The Space Age.

The Cocoa Beach Area Chamber of Commerce is staging a special dinner that night at the Holiday Inn Cocoa Beach Oceanfront Resort, which is located at 1300 N. Atlantic Ave. A cocktail reception will begin at 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 7 p.m. and a presentation and book signing after dinner.

The public is welcome to attend. Advanced tickets for this event are $60 per person and includes dinner and a copy of "Live From Cape Canaveral," or $100 per couple, and the couple cost includes dinner, a copy of "Live From Cape Canaveral" and drinks during book signing.

The lively page-turner covers the U.S. space program through the eyes of an author who "lived among the astronauts, socialized with them and watched as they strapped themselves into small metal canisters perched atop unimaginable explosion force," Kirkus Reviews said.

"His personal involvement with the men who conquered space distinguishes this book from Tom Wolfe's classic, bumptious look at the space program's early days, The Right Stuff (1979)," the review said.

"Where Wolfe projected himself into the astronauts' culture and mindset, Barbree shared them, and his enthusiasm for the material is irresistible. Stories of wild pranks, insanely reckless midnight drives and steadfast loyalty shared by the test pilots-turned-spacefarers leaven the impressively researched technical information, which is presented in a clear, accessible fashion."

Advanced tickets are limited to 300 and required for the dinner selection. Tickets can be purchased at the Cocoa Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, 400 Fortenberry Road, Merritt Island.

For more information, contact the Cocoa Beach Area Chamber of Commerce at (321) 459-2200 or visit www.cocoabeachchamber.com.