"Thoughts of a Space Worker"

Exert taken from Oral History for Darryl L Bookman

2012-02-23T13:13:00.001-05:00

Darryl L. Bookman lived in West Virginia until November 8, 1965 when he decided to move to Florida. He was working for a power company in West Virginia where he had a bad winter of breaking ice off wires, in 22 degrees weather and winds blowing at 30 miles per hour. He and his wife came to Florida to visit her parents and he said this is the place for me. No more cold, snowing, ice weather for me.

He got a job working for McDonnell Douglas, not knowing a thing about the space program. He had watched shots on T.V. but didn’t know anything about the Cape. When he met his supervisor and introduced himself the supervisor asked about his background and he said he didn’t have any experience and the supervisor said, why do they keep sending me people like this, and Mr. Bookman said “what did I get myself into?” He worked for Douglas aircraft for two in a half years when they couldn’t meet the payroll and Mr. Douglas made the payroll and took over the company.

When Bookman and his wife moved to Florida they stayed with his in-laws until they got started in working and getting some paychecks in hand. Then they rented an apartment when he started working for McDonnell Douglas. He met a friend named Sidney Bilbo who was a real Okie, and he said the space program was not for him. So he sold his house to me furnished for Four Hundred dollars now that was a bargain. He moved back to Oklahoma.

Bookman and his wife have a son who wasn’ t into a lot of sports he loved swimming, he got started by his neighbors with their son in the pool. Then he and his wife bought a home in Satellite Beach off North Patrick Shores ,put in a pool furnished the home and then his boss tells him he has to move to Vandenberg, Ca. He didn’t really want to go his son was halfway through school and he said he’ll go next y ear, but to his surprise his boss went to his house and they had to go to CA. They took a beaten out in California because his house in Florida cost him $126.00 a month and in California cost him $550.00 a month. His wife didn’t get a job in California so it was all on him. He lasted in California for seven (7) months when he got a call from his old boss to tell him to come back to Florida.

During the Apollo 1 disaster I was working a second shift at the VAB building when they heard and were pretty sure that the astronauts were killed. There was mass confusion and disbelief. The Challenger was the most devastating of all. I was standing in front of Hanger M and I watched the Challenger go up and all of a sudden there was a terrible explosion, It was only a few seconds into the launch and blew over the pad. It was a terrible thing to happen.

Working at the space center was like watching the NASCAR race to watch the wrecks, or you’re just transfixed at watching these manned launches, that something could go wrong. There is manned and unmanned launch. My biggest regret is that I didn’t go to school earlier, because I think I could have done a lot better for myself. My job was very rewarding for me and my family as far homes, cars and living better. I’ve seen a lot of people come and go. I was talking to one of my co-workers out there and we took inventory of only three from class of 65 and 66 left, that I work with. So most of them are gone.

"I Will Write My Story"

2011-11-07T11:09:00.002-05:00

By Gerald Lewis Pless

I will write my story. As I slowly turn the pages, I will write with compassion, beautiful experiences, and achievements. This is my story. It is mine to write.

I will write my story the way I choose to write it. With regret, I find there are those who no longer will journey down the path with me. I am deeply grateful for the wonderful experiences with them. But now I must look down that road to future dreams, experiences, and achievements. I say goodbye and wish them well. I will write my story.

Even in the darkest hours with shadows about me, I will feel the warmth of thosse I have loved through the years with the sense that I felt as a child on bright, blue Sunday mornings in the country. And smiling through my tears, I will look down that golden pathway tot he future with the knowledge that I can achieve dreams never dreamed and deeds never struck by human hands, limited only by my aspirations and God given talents.

I will write my story. I will seek the beautiful and sacred things in life. I will seek these things for even though they are fleeting, they will never really leave me. The will become my very substance and will dwell deep within my heart, and through the years will become like shinning stars that in the very depths of despair will give me comfort and peace.

Someday when the long day has ended, I will have written my story, and turning finding that my footsteps have faded into the dust, I will ask God to let me touch the hands of those I love, and everything will be all right. For I will have written my story the way I chose to write it. No one can take it from me. No one.

Oral History Robert Adcock

2010-06-22T16:29:00.001-04:00

On November 2, 2001 Robert L. Adcock was interviewed by Dr. Lori Walters and this is an account of Adcock’s experience as a NASA worker on the Vanguard Project. He became involved in space when he was with Glen L. Martin Company in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1959 he became involve d in the Vanguard Program as a ground electrical engineer working for Warren Opitz. They designed the electrical system for Vanguard and then in the fall of 1956 along with launch crew plus the installation crew, he moved to Florida. They installed the equipment on Pad 18A for the Vanguard launch. Bob became the electrical rep here on the Vanguard Program for both the ground and airborne electrical systems.

Bob was present for all the Vanguard launchings including the fatal December 1958 launch. The Russians had launched Sputnik prior to our launch of the Vanguard and it was a success. He shared his feelings about the fatal launch in this interview. He said that everyone felt the pressure of that launch. The President announced that the Vanguard would be carrying a “live Satellite”, something the Russians had not done. They worked frantically to get ready for that launch. Originally the launch had been designed without arrangements for a satellite. But from a launch point of view, he said, it did not matter whether they had a satellite are not. The vehicle had not been totally perfected. However, the pressure on the entire crew was quiet evident. Modifications were made to accommodate the satellite and they went ahead with those preparations.

Shortly before the launch in January 1958, Bob met Von Braun, German missile expert, and he was given a tour of the missile farm. His comment was that it was “quite sophisticated”. The fatal day came and they counted down and attempted to launch and the first stage engine had a problem.” It kind of fell into the flame bucket,” said Bob. He was in the blockhouse that day.

They had all kinds of visitors in the blockhouse that day, and they were worried about fire getting back into the blockhouse. They were also worried about further explosions, there were not any. About thirty plus minutes after the explosion, they sent out safety men and firemen to assess the wreckage on the pad. The thinking at the time was if there were any vessels that had trapped gases in them that might tend to explode, then they would vent those vessels.

The way they would vent them was with a 30 0ught 6 rifle. So they began to shot various things, they shot the helium tank and they never could get a hole in it. On stage one there was a big sphere and well built to withstand 4000 PSI. So it was strong and they went on and shot other tanks to vent it. And when they got to the satellite they did not know what it was so they shot it too. It was a grapefruit type satellite; it was laying on the ground beeping, so shot it. And it continued to beep. He said that they were really discouraged about that entirely.

The next day was kind of bad because they had to come in not feeling very well and start cleaning up all the wreckage out on the pad. Because this was a propulsion problem and not electric Bob and his crew were off the hook.

ü Following the Vanguard Program, Bob went to Vandenberg Air Force Base where the Titan I was being put in an intercontinental ballistic missile Bob and his crew developed the ground system for the Titan launch. He stayed at Vandenberg for two years. In 1961 he went to work on the Gemini Program in Baltimore.

Oral History: Sam Beddingfield

2010-06-18T15:40:00.002-04:00

The following information was taken from the US Space Walk of Fame Foundation oral history collection. The opinions and views of the spaceworkers were taken from interviews conducted by Dr. Lori Walters. Dr. Walters interviewed several workers for this collection, asking them many questions ranging from how they
liked living in the space coast area of Florida to the types of duties they performed in the space program. One of the first interviews of interest was that of Sam Beddingfield. The date was October 26, 2001 at the Space Walk of Fame headquarters in Titusville,Florida.
Sam,as he is better known, started in the space program in the latter part of 1959. He got out of the Air Force in 1959 where he had been testing airplanes for the Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. NASA as a government agency was less than a year old. He drove from his nearby home in Eastern, North Carolina to NASA headquarters at Langley Field, Virginia. Langley being only two hours from his North Carolina home was to be the place of his first job with NASA in 1959.
Sam was an aeronautical engineer, so he talked to NASA about airplanes, but unfortunately they did not have any slots.So he decided to return to his home in North Carolina until a slot opened up.But, he was later told that the greatest need at that time wasfor rocket people.Sam told the guy who was in charge of the operations that he knew nothing about rockets but was told,"they
don't either,go over there."
Upon arriving on the other side of the runway, he went into alittle bulding and the first person he met was Gus Grissom who was one of the original astronauts. That seemed to be perfect for him because he and Gus had been in the Air Force together at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton,Ohio. So Guis said to Sam,"Oh,you're here,"Sam said "Well yeah I was gonna get me a job." So Gus says,"you don"t have a uniform on," Sam said,"No I got out of the Air Force," Gus said,"that's perfect you can come to work here."
Sam later explained to Gus Grissom that he did not know anything about rockets. Gus said to Sam "nobody does, come on in." Gus was concerned that Sam did not have on a uniform. Sam told Gus that he had gotten out of the Air Force. Gus said that that was perfect. Sam was somewhat confused as to why it was perfect. He was told if he saw something there that he didn't like and he wanted to quit, that he could get up and walk out and there's nothing they could do about it.It was not like being in the Air Force, so Sam said,"OK." He was at Langley Field two weeks until he was told he had to go on a temporary trip. They sent him to Cape Canaveral,Florida to help get Project Mercury started. He started the project in early October 1959
When Sam arrived at the NASA facility on Cape Canaveral, it was located in one half of one hanger. They were told later that they were going to take over the whole hangar. They told Sam htat he was going to be the mechanical engineer. His first job was to make sue that the south part of Hangar S, the second floor was set up, ready them to move astronauts in. This area became the crew quarters for the original astronauts. He later worked on the Gemini, Apollo, and thee Shuttle Project.

ATLAS-ATLAS CENTAUR

2010-05-05T11:06:00.003-04:00

I JOINED GD/CONVAIR JUNE OF 1958, I WAS A LEAD ELECTRICAL ENGINEER ON ON THE ATLAS CENTAUR, TITAN CENTAUR,AND SHUTTLE CENTAUR. I SUPPORTED JOHN GLENNS LAUNCH IN 1962. THIS WAS ONE BRAVE MAN ,AS WE HAD A FAILURE TWO TEST FLIGHT BEFORE HIS FLIGHT. THERE WERE NO BACK UP SYSTEMS ON THE ATLAS. ITS WHAT WE CALLED SINGLE STRING, ONE FAILURE ALL FAILURE, SO HE HAD ABOUT A .5 OF A SECOND TO ABORT BEFORE THE BIG FIREBALL. BUT THIS WAS NO DIFFERENT THEN THE REDSTONE MERCURY OR TITIAN GIMINI BOOSTERS. APOLLO WAS THE FIRST PROGAM TO HAVE SOME BACK UP SYSTEMS.

MURPHY WARDMAN
SPACE WALK OF FAME VOLUNTEER

Welcome to Space Walk of Fame's Blog

2010-04-29T14:04:00.003-04:00

We would like to welcome you to the US Space Walk of Fame's "Thoughts of a Space Worker" Blog. It is our intent to share our experiences and thoughts with you about our lives as space workers for the most successful space program in the world. The men and women who will author our Blog have worked the early space programs from Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Shuttle and also the canceled Constellation. Some of our authors worked directly with the astronauts, worked for the launch Fire & Rescue Team, worked on the manned and unmanned launch vehicles, were engineers and wrench turners. All of us at the Space Walk of Fame Foundation/Museum hope you enjoy our stories.