Chuck
(a.k.a. Breezy) _________________________________
More on Apollo My favorite Apollo story has to do with
astronaut Jim Lovell.I joined the Apollo program in 1962, shortly after the project started. NASA was very new and on a major hiring spree, mostly green kids fresh out of college with little or no experience. I worked for the prime contractor, North American Aviation, in Downey, CA. As a part of my assignment, I traveled to the Space Center in Houston often, sometimes to give technical presentations. On this particular trip, I gave a presentation on the status of our efforts to solve a very sticky problem. Because of the importance of this problem, the presentation room was filled, standing room only. The majority of attendees were the green "rookie" NASA engineers. During the presentation I was hit with many questions, most of them stupid and totally ridiculous. But I noticed that one fellow standing in the back of the room was asking very intelligent and thoughtful questions, much better than from any of the young "squirts". After the presentation, I asked one of the NASA guys who the fellow in the back of the room was. He replied, "That's Jim Lovell, one of the new astronauts." I was surprised because most of the astronauts that I had met up to that point were not very sharp technically.
I walked up to Jim, introduced myself and thanked him for his probing questions. After talking with him for a few minutes, I saw that he was not only technically sharp, but a true gentleman as well. During later trips to Houston, I would occasionally cross paths with Jim, walking across the facility grounds or going into a building. Every time that happened, he would always greet me and call me by name. None of the other astronauts I worked with ever did that. Of all the astronauts I met, I had the most respect for Jim Lovell.
Jim's first Apollo flight was Apollo 8, which was the spacecraft I was Project Manager on, and was the first manned spacecraft to go to the moon. Jim served as Command Module pilot on that mission. Apollo 8's mission was to loop around the moon without landing, which it did on Christmas Eve 1968. As the spacecraft was moving around the moon, Jim offered up a special Christmas Eve prayer that was very moving.
Jim was the commander on Apollo 13, the mission that experienced a major explosion in the service module on the way to the moon. I died a thousand deaths over the three days it took Jim and his crew to nurse their crippled spacecraft safely back.
I now realize how strong Jim is in his Christian faith, and that's what made him the great person he is.
Chuck
________________________________ More on Hungary/Romania Mission Trip There were so many deeply moving and emotional experiences during this mission that it was impossible to chronicle them all. Instead, at a special Sunday evening service, each member of the mission team told their favorite story to the congregation. Those stories were compiled in a short mission report, a copy of which I have attached for you.
