The Life of a Rocket Engineer
At lunch one day a friend told me he was going to work at General Dynamics, Convair and would be making $1.50 an hour. This intrigued me since my father was only paying me $1.00 an hour at his auto parts store in La Mesa. So thanks to my friend, I got a job at Convair. It did not take me long to fall in love with airplanes. I had made many model airplanes while growing up. Working for one of the premier aerospace companies was a dream come true.
I later graduated from UC Berkeley and began my career in 1956 at General Dynamics, where I was assigned a position on a missile program. In 1960 I probably made one of my most important career changes, when they promoted me to the position of Manager for Manned Space Programs. During this period president Kennedy announced that a decision had been made to place a man on the moon within a decade. So, in 1962, when I was offered a position in the new NASA Apollo Spacecraft Project Office, I went without hesitation, and moved my young family to Houston. There I joined the NASA team working on the lunar missions. Much to my surprise and delight was my appointment to be an officer for the Apollo Program, which also meant I managed the $2.2 billion budget.
I was proud to play an influential role in the success of six moon landing, and especially the Lunar Module which became the lifeboat for the safe return home of the Apollo 13 vehicle and the crew.
Today I am adding another chapter to my career. The Bush Administration is planning manned flights to the moon again. I am honored that I am able to pass along my experience to the next generation of "space cadets."
