John Beckman - W4BTX HAM RADIO "A PAST TIME FOR A LIFETIME"
How well I remember that night 50 years ago. I got my young daughter out of bed in the early morning hours to see the first man, an American, walk on the moon. I am still amazed that, compared-to the technology of today, scientists were able to accomplish that feat with the primitive computers of the day. You have a hundred more power in that smart phone you can hold in your hand than those space travelers used to go to the moon. And a Radio Amateur was involved in helping them reach the moon.
The Nashville Tennessean newspaper recently featured the story of a 104-year-old ARRL member who contributed to NASA's effort to put the first humans on the moon 50 years ago this month. Cary Nettles, W5SRR, of Columbia, Tennessee -- who calls himself the nation's oldest rocket scientist still alive -- was a NASA project manager and research engineer on rocket propulsion systems.
While working on the Centaur second-stage rocket program, Nettles determined that the rocket engine failures NASA was experiencing were a result of misdirected exhaust destroying the vehicles' engines. Nettles told the Tennessean he came up with an "exhaust pipe" that solved the problem. In May 1966, an Atlas-Centaur launcher propelled the first Surveyor lander toward the moon. That year, NASA awarded Nettles and colleague Ed Jonash with its Distinguished Service Medal for "their superhuman effort in turning the troubled rocket into a reliable upper stage," according to a 2004 NASA publication, "Taming Liquid Hydrogen -- The Centaur Upper Stage Rocket 1958 - 2002." in the 1950s and 1960s.
On July 16, 1969, a Saturn V rocket with a liquid hydrogen-fueled second stage carried astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins to their rendezvous with the moon. Nettles retired from NASA the following year.
Nettles got his Amateur Radio license in 1945 and remains active on 40 meters as well as on VHF and UHF repeaters. He is a member of the Maury Amateur Radio Club. In addition to sustaining his interest in ham radio over the decades, Nettles is an enthusiast of "large-scale" steam trains, which he works on in his basement. Look for him Tuesdays at 1400 UTC on 7.215 MHz on the Steam Railroad Net. In 2015, the year he turned 100, the ARRL Tennessee Section presented Nettles with its Elder Statesman Award.
After 8 years of nothing, we now have a President who is proud to reignite our space program. We have had to pay the Russians to get our astronauts into space. Those days are ending.
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