Accident Claims Life of Astronaut Conrad JSC Celebrates 30Th
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SPACE CENTER July 30, 1999 Roundup VOL. 38, NO. 14 L YNDON B. JOHNSON SPACE CENTER, HOUSTON, TEXAS JSC celebrates 30th anniversary of Apollo 11 mission By Nicole Cloutier “This is really an unforgettable day for me!” said Joerg Entertaining the revelers were Kelly McGuire & Kindler, a German visitor working on the X-38 project. Hurricane and The Fab 5 filling the air with classic ore than 2,500 JSC employees, family “I saw the first astronaut on the Moon and shook hands tunes from the Apollo era throughout the festivities. members and space enthusiasts convened at the with him. Neil Armstrong is somebody who kept his eyes Picnickers enjoyed a traditional barbecue dinner while M Gilruth Center July 22 to commemo- reminiscing with each other about the accom- rate the 30th anniversary of the first lunar plishments of the past and possibilities of the landing and first person to walk on the Moon. future in space. “The best thing that happened to the United “On this night 30 years ago, NASA Road States and to the world in the 20th century was One was closed down and people were danc- landing on the Moon,” said Christopher Kraft ing in the streets,” said Don Lewis, NASA Jr., former JSC director. “It’s great for us to be engineer, who worked the rendezvous proce- together to remember Apollo and I’m proud to dures for the Apollo Program. “Some of these have been a part of it.” people here today weren’t even around then, Kraft was joined by Neil Armstrong, the so I think it’s great to see this many people first astronaut to walk on the Moon, and here today to Astronaut John Young, JSC’s associate remember the technical director. Each guest related recol- Apollo event.” lections of the Apollo landing, its impact on Inside the the space program as well as the future of I think the next 30 years will Gilruth Center were Apollo space exploration. see the greatest achievement The speakers also recognized the contribu- Program tions of numerous individuals in their of mankind. We’ll learn to live exhibits and addresses, including Dr. Robert Gilruth, and work on other places in artifacts includ- John Victory and Dr. Maxime Faget. ing a small- JSC Photo S99-07682 by Robert Markowitz the solar system. Apollo will scale Lunar “It was Dr. Faget who first proposed the U.S. build a Neil Armstrong, Apollo 11 commander, flanked have opened that door. spacecraft with a blunt body shape more than 40 years by Chris Kraft Jr., (left) former center director, and Module and the ago,” said Armstrong. “That day was the beginning of John Young (right) associate technical director, – John Young Mobile Equip- manned space flight.” addresses picnic guests. ment Trans- Many in the audience felt privileged to see porter, which Armstrong in person and enjoyed his light-hearted on the stars but always his feet on the ground – and that’s allowed astronauts to carry tools around on the lunar address to the crowd where he called Capt. Young his why I can look up to and learn from him. A lot of my surface; lunar surface maps; and assorted magazines “idol” who is “in line for another flight.” friends back in Germany will envy me for that.” and newspaper headlines announcing the landing. ■ Accident claims life of astronaut Conrad harles P. (Pete) Conrad (Capt., USN, Ret.), the third space frontier,” said JSC Director George W. S. Abbey. Richard Gordon established the fastest rendezvous and human to walk on the Moon, died July 8 in a hospital “From Gemini to Apollo, to his command of the first docking in history, linking their Gemini spacecraft with C in Ojai, Calif., of injuries sustained in a motorcycle crew to live aboard an American space station, Pete was an Agena target vehicle before establishing a new accident. He was 69. a true professional. He combined skill and ability with altitude record of almost 850 miles above the Earth. Conrad made history on November 19, 1969, when, as wit and humor to become one of the courageous pio- Conrad was joined by Bean and Gordon on the Apollo commander of the Apollo 12 mission, he and Astronaut neers who took humankind beyond the bounds of our 12 mission in November 1969, forming an all-Navy crew Alan Bean set their lunar module planet. We will miss him greatly. Our heartfelt sympa- for their Command Module “Yankee Clipper” and their “Intrepid” down on the Moon’s thy goes out to his wife, Nancy, and their family.” Lunar Module “Intrepid.” Conrad and Bean proved that Ocean of Storms to achieve Conrad was selected in the second class of NASA pinpoint landings could be made on the lunar surface and the second of six landings in astronauts in 1962 following a distinguished career as a conducted the first significant science operations during the Apollo Program. Navy test pilot and instructor. Following his graduation their 31 hours on the Ocean of Storms. Some five hours later, from Princeton University in 1953, he entered the Navy Conrad’s fourth and final space flight occurred in Conrad stepped onto the and attended test pilot school at Patuxent River, Md., 1973 as the commander of the first crew to live and Moon and, parodying the where he was assigned as a project test pilot. work on America’s first space station, Skylab. Conrad, historic words of Neil After being selected as an astronaut, Conrad was Paul Weitz and Joseph Kerwin were launched on a Armstrong four months assigned to fly on the Gemini 5 mission as the co-pilot modified Saturn rocket on May 25, 1973, 11 days after earlier, said, “Whoopee! to Gordon Cooper. In August 1965, Cooper and the station itself was launched. Man, that may have been Conrad spent what was then a record eight days in Among Conrad’s numerous awards are the Congres- a small one for Neil, orbit, perfecting techniques for use in later lunar sional Space Medal of Honor, two NASA Distinguished but that’s a long one missions and proving the capability of Service Medals, two NASA Exceptional Service for me.” astronauts to spend more than a Medals, two Navy Distinguished Service Medals and “Pete was an week in space. two Distinguished Flying Crosses. He was enshrined in explorer and a Conrad then com- the Aviation Hall of Fame in 1980. hero of the manded the Gemini 11 The funeral for Conrad was held July 19 at Fort mission in September Myers Chapel at Arlington National Cemetery. 1966, in which he Conrad is survived by his wife, three sons and and co-pilot seven grandchildren. ■ Guppy delivers JSC celebrates Astromaterials station Structural its diverse team prepares Test Article. culture. for future. Page 2 Page 4 Page 7 2 July 30, 1999 SPACE CENTER Roundup Guppy delivers station Structural Test Article JSC Photo S99-06280 by James Blair JSC Photo S99-06281 by James Blair STATION ELEMENT ARRIVES AT ELLINGTON FIELD – The Structural Test Article for one of through the summer and fall and will verify the launch environment for the actual hardware the International Space Station’s 40-foot-long truss segments arrived at Ellington Field late that will be delivered to the station on assembly flight 9A scheduled in mid 2001. last month to undergo acoustical vibration testing in Bldg. 49. This testing will continue Station Mission Evaluation Room managers provide round-the-clock support he International Space Station Mis- A MER manager is on console around anomalies that arise during in-flight or procedures to repair the faulty Early sion Evaluation Room in Bldg. 30 at the clock during non-assembly opera- quiescent periods. Communications System aboard Unity, T JSC opened its doors last November tions. During station assembly operations, As the engineering consultants for the completing a successful hatch adjustment, with the launch of Zarya, the first ISS com- three managers are on console around the Flight Control Team, the MER managers repairing the Russian Electrical Power ponent. It has remained opened ever since. clock, with a full team of 300 engineers interface directly with the ISS and the System aboard Zarya and implementing Twenty-four hours each day, seven represented from all ISS subsystems space shuttle flight directors during shuttle software updates. days per week, the MER brings together nationwide ready to support. missions. ISS MER managers communi- ISS viewing opportunities from national and international station design- Subsystem engineers and safety and cate with the flight directors using voice the ground can be found on the Internet ers, builders and operators in solving operations specialists coordinate all loops and a messaging system that uses a at: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata hardware and systems issues that affect activities necessary to make real-time deci- formal electronic signature to document /sightings/ ■ performance and safety. These specialists sions affecting the space station. Primary information passed between the MER provide engineering support for all ISS activities focus on protecting the on-orbit and the flight controllers. Twelve managers oversee the activities both in real-time and during hardware from damage from any source MER members and the flight day-to-day activities of the Inter- quiescent periods. and providing engineering support to controllers make up the team that national Space Station Mission Evaluation Room at JSC. The Twelve managers – three from NASA, repair hardware in the event that it fails. successfully troubleshoots problems managers are, from left, front: Dan eight from Boeing, and one from Lockheed These tasks are shared between the Flight that arise on board the orbiting space Bahadorani, Chuck Armstrong; Martin – oversee the day-to-day activities Control Team, which provides the opera- station.