OUR MOON

Some information about our Moon: It influences our Earth without being noticed such as tides and life like the rhythms of reproduction. I think it is beautiful to watch. It has pulled on our planet for billions of years.
Can we survive without it? Since Apollo Astronauts placed reflectors on the Moon, an observatory in the wilds of Texas have been firing a ruby laser at those reflectors every day. I have been there and watched the laser fire. Cool! But the bad news: our Moon is moving away from us and I was told that in about 10,000 years, there might not be ANY eclipses.
Yikes! But civilization has not been in existance that long.

APOLLO Contractors

I worked for Boeing-the prime and largest contractor on Apollo. Other major contractors were: North American Aviation, Douglas (McDonnell Douglas later) and IBM.
North American sub-contracted Chrysler and Rocketdyne which built the F-1 and J-2 engines. Then there was Grumann.
Here were the main facilities for the Saturn V: Seal Beach, Calif.; Huntington Beach, Calif; Michoud, La.; and Bethpage, N.Y.
Testing for the first stage the S1-C was done at the Mississippi Test Site near Bay St. Louis and at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

I will give you the specifications later of the Saturn V.

I just want you who are reading this to know that I have so much information to share that not even the people in NASA today have a clue. I can't find anyone who worked with me and that is sad.

There are very few (if any) Apollo employees online.

The Saturn V is still the largest rocket ever built.
I am so proud to have been a part of this magnificent endeavor.

When you see the Saturn V launch and you hear "ignition", that is our stage. The huge long flame just before staging is our stage, too. We boosted the Saturn V up to 38 miles in 2 1/2 minutes at 6,000 mph. We built a miracle and no jerk will take that away from me.

Please Follow this Blog-Unique News

For all of you fine folks who are reading this Blog, would you please page down and look on the left side for "Follow"? Please sign up. You can keep up with the posts. It is FREE.

Then when the spirit moves you, please leave a comment on any post.

Then, would you consider sending the URL to all of your email friends? I really need the traffic.

http://www.insidetheapolloproject.com/

One more thing: Do you have a website? How about trading links? I can show you how to do this.

Please keep in mind that after much research, it seems that Sally and I were the ONLY women working as engineers on the entire Saturn V. If there are more, I cannot find them. No NASA women engineers worked directly on the Saturn V.
I have received files from NASA of the women who worked for them on Apollo.

The Astronauts of Apollo 11 and Robert Morris

This is from Robert with a really great story:

Sara,

On the contrary, I for one am interested in your amazing web site.
Like you, I share some personal interest in the Apollo Program.

My late mother-in-law, who married an aviation pioneer named "Armstrong," exchanged personal letters with the mother of Neil Armstrong following the Apollo 11 moon landing.

The Apollo 11 command module pilot, Michael Collins, was a childhood friend of mine in 1945 in Ohio and later our paths crossed in the military service at Chanute AFB in 1958. I have an autographed portrait of Michael's father, Major General James L. Collins, on one of my walls. General Collins, among other achievements, was Aide-de-Camp to General of the Armies, John J. Pershing, in Mexico, in the Philippines and in France during World War I.

And I served under Buzz Aldrin in the same Army unit, before he entered the Air Force and went on to fame and glory.

There, I have probably told you more than you need, or want, to know about your Apollo Program.

I admire your achievements and your professional contributions to our nation and to the world!

My very best wishes to you and to Dudley,

Robert

=================================

What an absolutely fascinating and wonderful story.

Thanks, Robert.

Is there Anyone reading this? A sad day

There has been one thing over the years that I am very sad about. It has been over 40 years since I worked on the magnificent rocket--the Saturn V. I have never seen or spoken to any of our Astronauts. It looks like I never will. Those of us who created a solid piece of technology for the times are alone, forgotton and thrown in the trash pile. I do not want autographs. These do not give you the measure of a man.

Anyway, no one will miss me. No one has ever read this blog.
Well, maybe one or two.

Remember,"The astronauts have the right stuff but we engineers have the REAL stuff".

P.S. Addendum. I will keep posting. Thank you everyone for your input. I need to get more traffic.

The HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE

What an absolutely fabulous telescope. The crew of the Space Shuttle Atlantis did a wonderful job refurbishing the Hubble.

I bet there are scientists and astronomers who are waiting with bated breath until the day comes when First Light will be seen. Oh, the mysteries we will see. This mission has been one-of-a-kind and will never be seen again.

Technorati: Ping

Technorati: Ping: "http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping into"

Sara's Newest Achievements

Announcements from Sara:

My book has been published and is for sale on Amazon.com It is "The Biggest Explosions in The Universe" and has gorgeous pictures from the Hubble Telescope.

Here is the link: http://runurl.com/xx.php?pqo.

Then I was interviewed by our local ABC news:

http://www.wtxl.tv/global/story.asp?s=10324176

My Television Debut on ABC

This story aired on our local ABC affiliate.
http://www.wtxl.tv/global/story.asp?s=10324176
This has some good video and the narrator, Lauren Dorsett is beautiful and really smart. She nailed the vocabulary.

A SALUTE TO APOLLO 8

I have been meaning to post a salute to Apollo 8. They were the first Apollo Mission to orbit the Moon. They are dear to my heart because of what they did on Christmas Eve 1968.

The crew consisted of Frank Borman, Bill Anders and Jim Lovell. I just published a book about the stars for young readers. I have dedicated 2 pages as a salute to this special crew.

The book is "The Biggest Explosions in The Universe" and is for sale on Amazon.com

http://runurl.com/xx.php?pqo

We worked to keep our astronauts safe.

Welcome home guys!

Bagpipes, Amazing Grace and Earth

I hope you will be pleasantly surprised by this. Just click on the link.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V84STSWVp3g&feature=related

We love the pipes. I am so glad to see and hear so many bands.

We have been to the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. That was in 1991.
We had a piper in our family. Oh, my what wonderful sounds.
You should hear a band piping "Amazing Grace" especially the U.S. Marines.

The FAKE ORDER for a Test Stand

This is so hilarious, I just had to post this for all of you to read.
I received this in an email. I do not think English is his first language. This is the 2nd one I have received and a friend found out it is a tire company in the midwest. Keep reading..

Hello Good Day
This is Scott Robinson,
With regards to your Company i am sending this email to order some ( Test Stands),
i would like to know the type and sizes you have in stock and get me the sales price of it and i would tell you the quantity i would purchase, and also if you accept credit card as a form of payment .Stay Bless .Scott Robinson 11352 South State Street Chicago, IL 60628
Here was my reply: A Test Stand will cost you 1 (one) Billion Dollars and you will have to personally retrieve it. You might not be able to get it as they are buried deeply in bed rock.

Apollo Adventures at the Cape

Hi Sara! I worked at the Cape from June 1965 to May 1970 so I saw everything from the Saturn to the Titan. I worked in the Headquarters Bldg. and my first boss and the bosses under him were all very cool with letting us go outside to watch a launch if it was special. In fact, our big boss encouraged it. One day, we learned the Titan was going and just a few minutes before liftoff, one of the girls in my office, myself, and her sister from another office ran downstairs and jumped into her sister's car and we took off down to get as close to the pad as possible and listening to the countdown on radio. As we were at this lane on our left that went to the pad, we quickly parked and ran over to this mound (we learned later that it was a camera site and as close to the pad as we could have possibly gotten) and stood there and watched a spectacular shot that was so bright it almost blinded us as we didn't have our shades with us. No one said anything to us as we worked for Col. Petrone and his nickname was "The Rock!" He was a good guy though. Another time, one of the big ones was going and just as I got to entrance to my building, several people had gathered outside so I waited and shortly, it lifted off and the glass windows and doors in our building were moving like in shock waves! It almost gave me chills. The dog, Lassie made a couple movies out there and I was fortunate enough to get an autographed (paw print) of Lassie along with a nice photo. I still have it tucked away somewhere. I have to get busy and find all that stuff and get rid of some of my junk. I also have a packet of first day launch covers with stamps from several launches. You probably have a lot of mementos from your Rocket Scientist days. Those were the days, weren't they?
You bet-this from Hazel Lewis. Her husband was an engineer and he and his team worked on the Launch Pads. Cool! Huh!

The Biggest Explosions in the Universe

Hi, All! My book, "The Biggest Explosions in the Universe" is now listed for sale on Amazon.com, AbeBooks.com and Alibris.com.
This is about the birth and death of stars written for young adults/teens. It is an easy, fun read. Stars sing, shine in bright colors and dance. There are weird, wacky and mysterious stars.
Are there bigger explosions than supernovas? What happens in a black hole?
Could exotic life exist in space?
How will our sun die?

Here is the link to Amazon.com where the book is for sale:

http://runurl.com/xx.php?pqo

Did You Know?

Did you know that we women who worked as Aerospace Engineers and other Engineers, Scientists and Researchers were the FIRST women in the world to do this? The Apollo program hired women with math degrees. We worked at Marshall Flight Center, Johnson Space Center, Cape Canaveral and at Michoud in New Orleans. There were a few who worked for NASA but we mostly worked for the contractors. I worked for Boeing, others worked for Chrysler, North American Aviation and others. NASA was so small, it had to hire 23,000 contractors who in turn hired close to 400,000 employees. NASA wants you to think that they did everything including building the infrastructure, the launch pads, all the stages and every nut and bolt. It is funny that when NASA trots out the astronauts,
it is a dog and pony show which has been going on for 40 years. :o)
We women were the "peons in the pits" and we are "lost in space"

Look at the Older Posts

Check out the Older Posts for great information and pictures.
Look at the list on the left of this post.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

I found some more women Aerospace Engineers that worked on Apollo.
We created a miracle and no one knows. Interesting information will be revealed in 2009.
In the meantime have a wonderful holiday season.

The Miracle that was APOLLO

Forty years ago there were many people who were very excited about a new endeavor for mankind. In the late 1950s and early 1960s a group of visionaries convinced an American president that we must mount a great effort to take men to the moon. It was begun and humanity was never the same. In 1969 two men landed on the moon and humanity was changed forever. We had taken our first steps to the stars.
Humans are explorers and adventurers. We have the genes. They are inborn in us. We are a curious species and desire to know how things work, what is over that hill and what is it like to climb the tallest mountain?

The United States Naval Academy

What a wonderful institution! I was priviledged to speak before the Midshipmen on Wed. Nov. 12th about Apollo. They were all very interested and hardly knew anything about the Apollo project. I was happy to tell them about the wonderful role the U.S. Navy had in the Apollo Recovery ships. There were six graduates who became astronauts: Charlie Duke (Apollo 16), Donn Eisele (Apollo 7), Jim Lovell (Apollo 8 and Apollo 13), Wally Schirra (Apollo 7), Alan Shepard (Apollo 14) and Tom Stafford (Apollo 10).
Jim Lovell did a very special thing on Apollo 8. I will always love him for that. It was Earthrise. It was his words.

The Shuttles Endeavor and Atlantis

The STS 125 Mission is the one to upgrade and repair the Hubble Telescope for the last time. Oh, my heart. This Space Telescope is the most loved instrument for all time all over the world.