July 20, 1969

Moon Landing

   My wife, Anne, and I are on the road with our three sons.  We are returning from a Florida vacation that included watching a Saturn 5 Rocket launch.  Riding atop that vehicle were three men intent upon landing on the Moon and returning to Earth.  Mid-way of the afternoon we hear on the car radio that the landing on the moon had been successful.  The whole world is now waiting for them to exit the Lunar Lander and set foot on the moon.  NASA is planing to televise the actual exit and first step and we are planing to be home in time to watch on our new color television set.  

The traffic gets slower and slower and as we approach the announced time of exit we find ourselves in Albertville, Alabama, still more than 60 miles from home.  We check into a motel, making sure that they have a working television set in the room.  I rush to McDonalds for our supper while Anne lets the boys take a quick plunge in the pool.  They don’t want to leave the pool but we  are determined that they will not miss this historic moment.  

As we have come to expect from NASA events, there are numerous delays.  The talking heads on TV drone on-and-on about how we got to the Moon and endless speculation about what is delaying the exit form the Lunar Lander.  Despite our admonition that this is worth their undivided attention, one by one the boys drop off to sleep.  As the hatch is opened and Neil Armstrong is about to exit we rouse them and, with our constant urging, they sleepily watch man’s first steps on another world, then quickly return to their slumber.  It’s been a long day and a long vacation, so we soon join them in sleep.

Fire on Board

                                                  January 27, 1967

    Shortly after we  went to bed, the music on our radio was interrupted with an announcement that a fire had occurred in the Apollo spacecraft on the launch pad and it was feared that three astronauts participating in the test had perished.  Of course, we were immediately wide awake and anxious to hear further details.  Since the manned portion of space flight was handled out of Houston, I was not sure who was participating in the test, but I had worked with several of the astronauts when they came to Huntsville to evaluate the rockets that they would be riding into space.  Subsequent news announcements confirmed the worst and we were told that Gus Grissom. Ed White, and Ron Chaffee had not survived the fire.  Of these men, I had only met Gus Grissom.  

The NASA family was quite large and geographically dispersed, but we were all working on a common goal to fulfill President Kennedy’s dream and challenge to put men safely on the Moon.  Therefore, we felt an intense personal connection to the event  There was also a secondary concern that this incident might have a negative effect on the space exploration effort and our employment.  I loved my work and it paid me well.  I could not imagine at that time doing anything else.  Members from my test team were selected to work on the  team that investigated the cause and devised ways to prevent similar incidents in the future.