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What it was like being my father's son...

mrjlr

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Today, July 20th, is the 50th anniversary of the moon landing.
It took 400,000 scientists, engineers, machinists, etc to put those 3 men up there - and my father was one of them.
Sadly, I lost my father 3 years ago, but 10 years ago on the 40th anniversary he sent me this email I want to share with you.

July 20, 2009


Jeff-
This 40th anniversary of the first moon landing brings back to me a few memories. I had been working down in El Segundo at Hughes Aircraft Co. for several years. That big 12-story building on Imperial Highway was completely devoted to that shot to the moon and they had the primary contract from JPL. Several batteries were under consideration for use in the cabin that was going to the moon. The worry was what would happen to the heat generation in an environment with no air. The batteries were not in with the people. I invented the isothermal calorimeter to measure exactly how much heat would be given off on both charge and discharge. The work that I did with that calorimeter determined which battery was going to the moon. The battery under investigation was put in a big container of Freon 11 which boils at about 75 degrees F and it keeps the battery at that temperature no matter what it is doing. I have a bunch of good pictures of that big device which I can show you. I later got a patent on it and builtanother one at JPL.
When Spring came in 1969 we were getting nervous about when that space craft was going to take off. We came up with the saying "We may in May". We didn't make it so we came up with "The moon in June". Again we didn't make it so we came up with "We fly in July". And we did!!
Dad


Both of my parents were scientists and my childhood was interesting to say the least!

I miss my dad and this is a special day he would have loved to see!

20090219083219_00001-jpg.jpg


Jeff
 

Litchkar

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What a great story, thank you for sharing it with us, I remember watching Neil Armstrong take that first step when I was 9 years old. It took a lot of amazing people behind the scenes to make it a success. That was a proud day in our country's history.
 

rbbruno3

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Nice story there Jeff, sounds like your dad had an important part in that mission. Thanks Jeff’s dad RIP
 

AUSTA

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Awesome ! testing testing & retesting every component to make sure those guys made it back ok.
I was about 9 at the time watched the landing in class on the old black & white.
 

Grady Cain

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So freakin' cool man. That was a monumental scientific/engineering achievement at that time. Thank you for sharing that...
 

DetMatt1

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Very nice, it’s great to hear personal stories like that. You must’ve had a fantastic childhood.
I was born July 13th ‘69 and am told that I watched the moon landing with my whole family.
 

budascuda

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Great men do not belong to a nation,
They belong to mankind.
 

moparlee

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Jeff, Thanks for sharing that great story from your Dad. And we need to thank scientists like your parents because "mankind" (quoting budascuda) wouldn't be where we are at today without their great work.
 

doubleyellow

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Thanks for sharing your story about your Dad.

Amazing people that accomplished legendary feats.........the Space program motivated me to become an engineer (looks like your Dad probably did much better in Thermodynamics class than I did)...........America should have been back to the Moon and landed astronauts on Mars by now.........let's hope the country can pull together and make this happen
 

budascuda

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Thanks for sharing your story about your Dad.

Amazing people that accomplished legendary feats.........the Space program motivated me to become an engineer (looks like your Dad probably did much better in Thermodynamics class than I did)...........America should have been back to the Moon and landed astronauts on Mars by now.........let's hope the country can pull together and make this happen


The barrier that keeps students from doing well and advancing in thermodynamics is the subject of Statistical Mechanics. if one could comprehend that, then one can transcend. It is after all, customery to make the student earn his PhD, hehe.


As for going to Mars, yeah, it would have happened already, as you said..., but instead the money keeps going to the side show, Or perhaps we are not welcome there!
Anyway, the technology is available, thanks to the scientists that made it possible, there is plenty of private capital floating around, so all we need is focus. Jmo
 

doubleyellow

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For me it was figuring out the difference between Entropy and Enthalpy.........but now after owning a Mopar for many years, I definitely know what Entropy is all about.....
 

budascuda

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Oh good, better late than never!
It seems atleast now you have a clear understanding of the primary principals so that you can explain global warming. If you wanted to.
However, I am worried about the munchkins who are lineup to go to Mars now.
 

340challconvert

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doubleyellow
You brought me back to my high school Physics.
We need to continue with our voyages to explore space and Mars is the next natural venue for us to reach! Science forever!
Dino2 (1).gif
 

seneca

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Much respect and admiration for your father and the rest of the scientists that actually made John Kennedy's promise to put an American on the moon before the end of the decade come true. Who would have believed it? The best part of this was not only the achievement of the effort but that it was a major thumb in the eye of the Soviets. Shows what this country can do when it wants to. Now, we can't even build a wall on our own border to keep out the illegals without pissing in the other Party's shoe and slinging mud all over the place!
 

budascuda

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" John Kennedy's promise to put an American on the moon before the end of the decade "

In the footage of that historic speech, you can see LBJ who was sitting behind Kennedy at the time, rolls his eyes in disbelief as Kennedy says these words.

Nowadays, Nobody talks about achieving something monumental any more, unless its talk of making monumental amount of money !
 
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