Treasure Chest Thursday - Apollo-Soyuz Decal and Letter

This is a letter and decal that my father received while he was working for NASA at the Kennedy Space Center. It was issued on June 16, 1975 in anticipation of the Apollo-Soyuz launch on July 15, 1975. The Apollo-Soyuz mission was the first joint US-Soviet space flight and marks the last flight of an Apollo spacecraft.

Treasure Chest Thursday - Space Program Souvenirs

My father worked for NASA during the Apollo and Shuttle programs and often received souvenirs of the space missions. This memento from Apollo 14 is a wallet-sized card with a small piece of the lunar surface safety line carried by the astronauts on the moon's surface on February 5-6, 1971. It has a picture of the launch in the background and the names of the Apollo 14 astronauts: Edgar D. Mitchell, Alan B. Shepard, Jr. and Stuart A. Roosa. The other side of the card has my father's name and the NASA logo used during the 1970s.

According to SpaceFlownArtifacts.com, the lunar safety line was a 100 foot long cord designed to be used to pull an astronaut to safety if they were unable to climb up a steep slope or out of a crater. Since the safety line wasn't used, it was decided to use it in mementos given as a thank you to the staff at the Kennedy Space Center for their efforts on the Apollo program. A letter of thanks was distributed along with the card, so I'll have to see if I can find the letter in my father's collection.

Sentimental Sunday - 40th Anniversary of Skylab

Skylab I launch from Pad 39A, KSC

NASA is marking the 40th anniversary of Skylab this Monday with a televised discussion featuring Skylab astronauts.

From the NASA press release: NASA launched Skylab on May 14, 1973. It was the nation's first foray into significant scientific research in microgravity. The three Skylab crews proved humans could live and work effectively for long durations in space. The knowledge gathered during Skylab helped inform development and construction of the International Space Station, just as the research and technology demonstrations being conducted aboard the ISS will help shape a new set of missions that will take Americans farther into the solar system. 

This brings back a lot of memories for me since my Dad spent most of his career working at the Kennedy Space Center for NASA. The photos below are of the Skylab Activation Crew at Kennedy Space Center. My Dad is on the right in the first photo and the second from the right in the second photo. If anyone can identify the other people in the photo, please let me know! I would guess these were taken in 1972.

 

In 1972, NASA sent a bio and interview with my Dad to his hometown newspapers in Celina and Dayton and to the University of Dayton where he received his degree in Civil Engineering in 1958. It's a nice record of his career up to that point. He continued to work with NASA until his retirement in 1990.

I think my Dad would be sad to see a time when we don't have the capability to launch a vehicle to the Space Station. This quote from him was in the second page of the press packet:

"I believe that each new frontier opened to man must be explored and examined for all the knowledge it may yield," he said. "I think this is the responsibility for the leading nation of the world, and, for it to shirk from the responsibility may invite disaster at some future point of time, be it concerning space program, oceanographic research, or advanced medical and socialogical research."

Picture of the Skylab launch is from NASA's Skylab page.

Employment - 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History - Week #30

Week 30: Employment. Describe your first job. What did you do? Were you saving for something in particular, or just trying to make a living? Did that first job provide skills and make an impact on your life today? 

My first job was as a clerk-typist for NASA at the Kennedy Space Center. I worked for a secretary in the Contract Administration group in the late 70's. This was before the days of a computer on every desk, so all of the forms were manually typed and copied. At least we had electric typewriters!

I was going to be home for the summer after my first year of college, so wanted to make some money for the next school year. I had taken typing in high school and passed the required typing test for the NASA job. I more than doubled my words per minute that summer! The typing skills I learned have been very useful, but the most important skills were learning how to work on a team and just seeing office politics in action. I spent my second summer in school, but returned to NASA in my third summer as an Aerospace Technician. That summer, I programmed in Basic on a very early version of a desktop computer that used tapes for storage. Technology sure has come a long way since then!

This is a weekly challenge from GeneaBloggers called 52 weeks of personal genealogy history.

Secrets - 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History - Week #22

Week 22. Secrets. Describe something about yourself that won’t be found on any record 100 years from now.  This is a weekly challenge from GeneaBloggers called 52 weeks of personal genealogy history.

Vehicle Assembly Building

I worked at the Kennedy Space Center during the summers when I was home from college. My Dad spent most of his career there and we often met for lunch or sometimes went touring around some of the lesser known places.

One thing that won't be on our work records is that we went up to the top of the 525 foot high Vehicle Assembly Building and walked on the roof! The glass elevator going up was exciting in itself and gave a strange sensation of standing in place while the ground quickly moved away. It was a beautiful clear day and the view at the top was breathtaking. That's a lunch break I'll never forget!

Fame - 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History - Week #20

This is a weekly challenge from GeneaBloggers called 52 weeks of personal genealogy history.

Week #20 – Fame Week 20. Fame. Tell us about any local brushes with fame. Were you ever in the newspaper? Why? You may also describe any press mentions of your family members.

I don't think there's ever really been anyone famous in the family, but there have been a few mentions in the newspaper. During my school years, I was in the newspaper a few times for the Honor Roll and scholarships and I've found similar articles for both of my parents. I recently found a newspaper article about my father starring in a high school musical and another about my mother being honored for outstanding performance in the first Airline Secretarial class at Goldey College. I attended FSU when Ted Bundy attacked several students there and I was interviewed by my hometown paper. They printed an article with my quotes about how they had increased security at the school and everyone was being more cautious. This was in the awful period before they knew who had committed the crimes.

My great-grandfather Charles Creeden was in the papers in Celina and Lima, Ohio numerous times for his exploits while Sheriff of Mercer County and later as the town Postmaster. My great-uncle Julius Councill was in an article about a war memorial being erected in his honor and two others who had died in WWI and were from Queen Anne's, Maryland.

I worked at the Kennedy Space Center during the summers I was in college and got to watch Lee Majors film a few scenes at the Space Center for the Bionic Man. My father met several celebrities while working at the Space Center including Lloyd Bridges, John Denver, Sally Ride, and many other astronauts over the years. He asked Lloyd for an autograph and the only piece of paper my father had was his paystub, so we still have the paystub with Lloyd's autograph!

More recently, I met James Marsters at the FX Convention in 2009. He's a well known actor in the sci-fi community. Leonard Nimoy (Spock!) was at the autograph table next to James, so we saw him from a distance. Lindsey Wagner was also there, so I've seen both the Bionic Man and the Bionic Woman! 

25 Years Ago - The Space Shuttle Challenger

Twenty-five years ago today, I was working for a small software company in Melbourne, FL. It was freezing that morning and I remember laughing at my office mate as she came running in from the cold since she hadn't brought a jacket with her. We almost always went outside to watch the launches, but she said that she heard on the radio that the launch was canceled due to the cold weather. We were working in our office when another co-worker came running in from outside and said the shuttle had exploded. We didn't really believe it until we walked outside and saw the split trails. We held out hope that the crew had somehow managed to survive, but it wasn't to be. Everyone was in complete shock as the news spread.

My Dad spent most of his career working for NASA at the Kennedy Space Center, so the Space Program has always played a big part in our family.  He was still working there in 1986 and witnessed the Challenger disaster up close. I know it affected him greatly.

The Orlando Sentinel republished Dana Summer's editorial cartoon about the Challenger today. It really captured what everyone was feeling with the tear rolling down the shuttle's "face" and the seven doves rising out of the cargo bay: Space Shuttle Challenger Editorial Cartoon