Thursday, February 14, 2013

The Most Ambitious Space Program Ever Undertaken

I was honored to work for Lockheed Martin and witness history in the making
by Gus A.

My career at the Kennedy Space Center began with the Shuttle program in 1981. I was part of the ground support engineering team. Our contract was awarded to Lockheed Space Operations Company in 1983.

I worked as a ground support engineer until 1987, when I transferred to the crawler transporter department. It was exciting to drive such a huge piece of machinery and have the experience of rolling out the Space Shuttle to the launch pad!

In 1990, I moved on to the imaging department. We developed a new photo-optical control system for use at the Launch Control Center. This new photo control system replaced the existing system used during the Apollo program, and captured Shuttle launch images using high-speed film cameras.

Currently, I am part of a team developing another new photo control system, utilizing both film and digital cameras. Hopefully, this newest system will be used to support future commercial and government launches from the Kennedy Space Center.

It has been an honor to work for Lockheed Martin and to have been part of the Space Shuttle program.