The Huntsville Regional Economic Growth Initiative (HREGI ...

Editor’s Note: Ed Buckbee has been associated with the U.S. space program for four decades. He was commissioned a U.S. Army officer in 1958,
working for the U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Agency at Redstone. In 1961, Buckbee transferred to the newly formed NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
where he worked for rocket scientist Dr. Wernher von Braun. He was selected by von Braun in 1970 to be the first director of the Alabama Space & Rocket
Center. He is the author of “The Real Space Cowboys”; the editor of “50 Years of Rockets and Spacecraft”; and the producer of “Wernher von Braun – The
Rocket Man” and brings in-depth, first-hand knowledge of the history and successes of Marshall Space Flight Center, which is observing its 50th anniversary.
Happy 50th Birthday Marshall!
Light the Candle
Astronaut Alan Shepard is hurled into
space atop a Mercury-Redstone rocket.
The booster used in the Project Mercury
launching was provided and launched
for the Space Task Group by the
Marshall Space Flight Center.
(Photo courtesy of NASA)
It’s been four decades since U.S. astronauts
Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael
Collins rode an Apollo spacecraft atop a
Huntsville-developed Saturn V rocket to the
moon. Perhaps Sir Arthur C. Clarke, author of
2001: A Space Odyssey captured the full magnificence
of the feat when he noted, “Apollo
will be the only achievement this generation
will be remembered for a thousand years
from now.”
The organization that created the Saturn V,
the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center is
observing its 50th anniversary. It grew out of
the U.S. Army’s missile program at Redstone
Arsenal. This is where space exploration for
America began under the leadership of Marshall’s
first director, Dr. Wernher von Braun.
Programs like Mercury-Redstone, Saturn, Skylab,
Space Shuttle, Spacelab, Hubble, Chandra,
International Space Station and Constellation
became symbols of America’s achievements in
the peaceful exploration of space.
The early programs, while devoted to
developing Army missiles, provided the infrastructure
for space flight – the facilities,
equipment, processes and most importantly,
the working relationship between people and
organizations. The early years also served to
define the roles and interfaces between the
myriad technical, scientific, administrative
and management disciplines required for the
complexities of manned space flight.
The human element has always been the
heart of the Marshall rocket team – civil service
and contractors. The dream of going to
the moon and exploring the planets stirred
within man’s consciousness long ago. The
soul of an explorer lives in us all. The ideas
that brought this dream to reality sprung
from the minds of creative people within the
Marshall team. The hardware was the handiwork
of thousands of members of the team
– the engineers, secretaries, technicians, inspectors,
scientist and managers – each individual
and their work as important as the other.
Spread across several decades, they were
bound together in common purpose. Difficult
goals were set. Schedules were tight. Money
was limited. The difficulties were immense,
but the challenge of manned space flight was
and still is exciting and irresistible.
The Marshall team began manned space
flight with Alan Shepard’s flight aboard a
Mercury-Redstone rocket in 1961. In the
past 50 years, this team has successfully
launched numerous unmanned flights such
as the Hubble and Chandra spacecraft and
man-rated, nine Saturns to the moon, six
Saturns into earth orbit and 132 Space Shuttle
flights. These team members are people
who assumed responsibilities for certifying
the launch vehicle as reliable and safe to fly
with humans aboard. That final decision to
launch was made by a handful of people
who depended upon data and information
furnished by colleagues. This special breed
of rocketeer had to be disciplined and skilled
in the system. Each accepted the challenge of
working in a highly sophisticated and technical
field that often required fast, critical,
calculated and intuitive decisions. Von Braun
was known to say to his managers, “remember
you are on the critical path,” meaning
their work impacted the nation’s abilities to
get men safely to the moon and back.
The Marshall team led the effort to create
what is regarded today as the nation’s space
crescent of human space flight consisting
of NASA’s Marshall Center, Kennedy Space
Center, Michoud Assembly Facility, Stennis
Space Center and Johnson Space Center.
Space flight is not easy. It is rocket science
and the laws of physics have not changed.
It is no less complex getting into low earth
orbit today than it was when the Marshall
team launched pounds instead of tons. The
men and women of the Marshall Space
Flight Center today possess the will, intellect
and imagination to continue mankind’s
peaceful exploration of space through new
programs and missions.
Happy 50th birthday to the Marshall
team, the world’s premier rocket center. We
are proud to have you in the Rocket City.
• Ed Buckbee
author of The Real Space Cowboys
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Initiatives December 2010