1
00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:11,240
I can remember very well

2
00:00:20,339 --> 00:00:15,930
watching TV was just holding my breath

3
00:00:22,409 --> 00:00:20,349
waiting for the word to come back and it

4
00:00:24,510 --> 00:00:22,419
was exciting particularly I had been

5
00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:24,520
down to the launch that was a few days

6
00:00:31,049 --> 00:00:28,090
earlier so that that period of time had

7
00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:31,059
great excitement the culmination of long

8
00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:33,250
years of a lot of work a lot of people

9
00:00:38,970 --> 00:00:35,530
at that time I was in the executive

10
00:00:42,180 --> 00:00:38,980
staff we were working on things like

11
00:00:44,459 --> 00:00:42,190
budgets and schedules resources planning

12
00:00:47,310 --> 00:00:44,469
and control management systems and those

13
00:00:48,930 --> 00:00:47,320
kinds of activities previously I had

14
00:00:52,430 --> 00:00:48,940
been in the manufacturing engineering

15
00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:52,440
lab in the early 1960s where we did

16
00:01:01,040 --> 00:00:55,210
manufacturing an assembly of hardware

17
00:01:07,130 --> 00:01:03,380
Werner von Braun was certainly a

18
00:01:11,420 --> 00:01:07,140
charismatic leader technically very very

19
00:01:14,300 --> 00:01:11,430
strong as a scientist as an engineer he

20
00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:14,310
was a people person he knew how to

21
00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:17,090
inspire people to give their very best

22
00:01:23,450 --> 00:01:20,370
he certainly gave excellence on

23
00:01:25,820 --> 00:01:23,460
everything that he did and he inspired

24
00:01:27,830 --> 00:01:25,830
and required excellence of the people

25
00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:27,840
that worked with him

26
00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:31,610
he was as I said technically very strong

27
00:01:37,250 --> 00:01:35,010
but he knew art and he knew literature

28
00:01:40,160 --> 00:01:37,260
and he knew almost any subject that came

29
00:01:43,010 --> 00:01:40,170
up for discussion and had substantive

30
00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:43,020
knowledge and could could debate points

31
00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:46,890
or could carry the discussion on a lot

32
00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:49,250
of subjects outside of the sciences

33
00:01:56,180 --> 00:01:52,890
certainly he was a super salesman was

34
00:01:58,010 --> 00:01:56,190
able to communicate very very well I'd

35
00:02:01,160 --> 00:01:58,020
say that was one of his very strongest

36
00:02:03,109 --> 00:02:01,170
capabilities was communication with not

37
00:02:06,139 --> 00:02:03,119
just people with technical backgrounds

38
00:02:08,570 --> 00:02:06,149
but with people the man on the street he

39
00:02:10,490 --> 00:02:08,580
could convert a technical subject into

40
00:02:13,130 --> 00:02:10,500
something that someone who had no

41
00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:13,140
technical training could understand and

42
00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:15,410
could comprehend and could believe in

43
00:02:22,670 --> 00:02:19,530
and would would support he was excellent

44
00:02:25,550 --> 00:02:22,680
in dealing with the administration and

45
00:02:28,250 --> 00:02:25,560
with Congress so he just had many many

46
00:02:30,500 --> 00:02:28,260
capabilities that made him virtually the

47
00:02:32,690 --> 00:02:30,510
perfect kind of man for the job that he

48
00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:32,700
had at the time he did have a sense of

49
00:02:39,380 --> 00:02:35,970
humor enjoyed bringing people from

50
00:02:41,150 --> 00:02:39,390
different fields here to the center to

51
00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:41,160
show them the center and talk to them

52
00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:45,090
about what was going on one example I

53
00:02:51,860 --> 00:02:48,810
remember the the surgeon from South

54
00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:51,870
Africa dr. Bernard Christian Barnard who

55
00:02:57,980 --> 00:02:55,250
was one of the pioneers in heart surgery

56
00:03:01,460 --> 00:02:57,990
came to the center and spent a day here

57
00:03:03,380 --> 00:03:01,470
and talked to the staff and dr. von

58
00:03:06,590 --> 00:03:03,390
Braun took great pleasure in bringing

59
00:03:13,900 --> 00:03:06,600
people of that type to the center having

60
00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:16,090
I think they were instrumental in making

61
00:03:22,150 --> 00:03:18,410
the community what it is today

62
00:03:24,550 --> 00:03:22,160
obviously we probably wouldn't have the

63
00:03:26,710 --> 00:03:24,560
caliber of Symphony Orchestra that we do

64
00:03:32,550 --> 00:03:26,720
were it not for the musical interests of

65
00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:32,560
the group who came from from fort bliss

66
00:03:37,780 --> 00:03:34,490
instrumental that group was instrumental

67
00:03:40,180 --> 00:03:37,790
dr. Ron Brown personally in causing the

68
00:03:42,220 --> 00:03:40,190
University of Alabama Huntsville to be

69
00:03:44,230 --> 00:03:42,230
created he went to the legislature and

70
00:03:46,930 --> 00:03:44,240
appealed to the legislature to

71
00:03:49,150 --> 00:03:46,940
appropriate money for the university and

72
00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:49,160
he likewise did the same thing for the

73
00:03:52,660 --> 00:03:51,050
Space and Rocket Center he was

74
00:03:55,810 --> 00:03:52,670
instrumental in getting the state to

75
00:03:58,720 --> 00:03:55,820
support that endeavor and that was just

76
00:04:02,620 --> 00:03:58,730
dr. von Braun himself many of the other

77
00:04:06,330 --> 00:04:02,630
Germans were involved in the arts behind

78
00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:06,340
the development of the library the

79
00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:08,930
symphony the Arts Council and other

80
00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:11,450
cultural activities of the area so I

81
00:04:19,140 --> 00:04:13,010
think there were major contributions

82
00:04:24,210 --> 00:04:21,479
I think it was a comely combination of a

83
00:04:26,610 --> 00:04:24,220
lot of things of course the decision by

84
00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:26,620
President Kennedy to focus on the lunar

85
00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:30,130
landing was an excellent step

86
00:04:35,340 --> 00:04:33,130
it gave us a focus that everybody could

87
00:04:37,620 --> 00:04:35,350
deal with essentially everybody who was

88
00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:37,630
here at the center at that time was

89
00:04:42,779 --> 00:04:39,970
working on the Apollo program the Saturn

90
00:04:46,499 --> 00:04:42,789
program whether they were working as

91
00:04:48,570 --> 00:04:46,509
direct technical people or indirectly

92
00:04:51,840 --> 00:04:48,580
supporting the program so everybody was

93
00:04:54,719 --> 00:04:51,850
focused on achieving that one major goal

94
00:04:56,939 --> 00:04:54,729
I think another thing was the leadership

95
00:04:59,400 --> 00:04:56,949
there was excellent leadership from von

96
00:05:01,890 --> 00:04:59,410
Braun and the whole team that was made

97
00:05:04,740 --> 00:05:01,900
up the management structure of the

98
00:05:08,340 --> 00:05:04,750
center they were very strong technically

99
00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:08,350
and very able to lead the people who

100
00:05:14,430 --> 00:05:11,050
were working with them I think it was a

101
00:05:18,180 --> 00:05:14,440
time a time in history when technology

102
00:05:22,950 --> 00:05:18,190
was ready to to move forward rapidly and

103
00:05:26,700 --> 00:05:22,960
I think many people believed deeply that

104
00:05:28,740 --> 00:05:26,710
they were not just doing something to

105
00:05:31,740 --> 00:05:28,750
benefit themselves or to benefit the

106
00:05:34,830 --> 00:05:31,750
community but to benefit mankind well

107
00:05:36,629 --> 00:05:34,840
there was one concept or philosophy that

108
00:05:38,490 --> 00:05:36,639
I think was tremendously important to

109
00:05:40,500 --> 00:05:38,500
that whole endeavor it was called a

110
00:05:43,439 --> 00:05:40,510
concept or philosophy of automatic

111
00:05:47,700 --> 00:05:43,449
responsibility and that said that if you

112
00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:47,710
were in a technical discipline and you

113
00:05:53,450 --> 00:05:51,010
saw a problem and it was not being dealt

114
00:05:55,710 --> 00:05:53,460
with that it was your automatic

115
00:05:57,839 --> 00:05:55,720
responsibility to either deal with that

116
00:06:00,120 --> 00:05:57,849
problem if it was within your expertise

117
00:06:02,189 --> 00:06:00,130
or to be sure that it was brought to the

118
00:06:02,460 --> 00:06:02,199
attention of someone who could deal with

119
00:06:11,330 --> 00:06:02,470
it

120
00:06:14,370 --> 00:06:11,340
philosophy there was a great deal of

121
00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:14,380
difficulty in pulling together all of

122
00:06:18,420 --> 00:06:16,570
the pieces that had to be pulled

123
00:06:22,110 --> 00:06:18,430
together all of the elements of the

124
00:06:24,450 --> 00:06:22,120
Saturn system and we didn't start out

125
00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:24,460
with the systems in place we pretty much

126
00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:27,130
had to build the systems define the

127
00:06:32,970 --> 00:06:30,250
systems for scheduling and budgets and

128
00:06:35,580 --> 00:06:32,980
coordination as we went along

129
00:06:38,460 --> 00:06:35,590
and really that was one of the the

130
00:06:41,370 --> 00:06:38,470
points of interest of excitement because

131
00:06:43,710 --> 00:06:41,380
we were not following a cookbook we were

132
00:06:45,900 --> 00:06:43,720
kind of plowing new ground not only

133
00:06:48,630 --> 00:06:45,910
technically but managerially and

134
00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:48,640
administrative lee as we went along so

135
00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:51,250
that generated a lot of interest and

136
00:06:56,130 --> 00:06:54,010
excitement among all of the people who

137
00:06:58,530 --> 00:06:56,140
were working on because they were doing

138
00:07:00,330 --> 00:06:58,540
something new finding a new way to do

139
00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:00,340
the coordination and the systems

140
00:07:04,020 --> 00:07:02,170
engineering and the scheduling and

141
00:07:05,820 --> 00:07:04,030
making everything happen when he was

142
00:07:08,810 --> 00:07:05,830
supposed to well during the Apollo

143
00:07:12,780 --> 00:07:08,820
program I think I mentioned it was a

144
00:07:16,170 --> 00:07:12,790
single goal a single focus that everyone

145
00:07:19,950 --> 00:07:16,180
worked toward and I think that gave a

146
00:07:22,860 --> 00:07:19,960
focus to the activities an objective

147
00:07:26,580 --> 00:07:22,870
that was very concrete had a very firm

148
00:07:28,620 --> 00:07:26,590
time goal set by the president and the

149
00:07:34,420 --> 00:07:28,630
resources were available to go about

150
00:07:40,060 --> 00:07:37,600
there was Skylab that came behind Apollo

151
00:07:42,460 --> 00:07:40,070
that was very successful the

152
00:07:46,750 --> 00:07:42,470
apollo-soyuz test program followed that

153
00:07:48,820 --> 00:07:46,760
also successful we were successful with

154
00:07:52,390 --> 00:07:48,830
the high-energy astronomy observatory

155
00:07:56,230 --> 00:07:52,400
that that followed a STP and then the

156
00:07:57,910 --> 00:07:56,240
shuttle came along great pride pride in

157
00:08:01,410 --> 00:07:57,920
having been a part of something that I

158
00:08:04,530 --> 00:08:01,420
considered was important to mankind

159
00:08:07,270 --> 00:08:04,540
important to this country important to

160
00:08:09,820 --> 00:08:07,280
international relationships and

161
00:08:12,820 --> 00:08:09,830
hopefully international peace so there

162
00:08:15,460 --> 00:08:12,830
was a great pride in having been a party

163
00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:15,470
to it feeling to have made some small

164
00:08:20,860 --> 00:08:17,570
contribution to it

165
00:08:24,250 --> 00:08:20,870
elation of course that it was occurring

166
00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:24,260
and occurring successfully and of course

167
00:08:30,310 --> 00:08:27,050
some trepidation because the crew had to

168
00:08:32,410 --> 00:08:30,320
return from the moon the mission wasn't

169
00:08:36,310 --> 00:08:32,420
over till they were safely back on earth

170
00:08:39,700 --> 00:08:36,320
so all of those things I think elation

171
00:08:41,860 --> 00:08:39,710
and and pride and and continuing concern

172
00:08:44,410 --> 00:08:41,870
that everything went well for the rest

173
00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:44,420
of the mission well I would say it's

174
00:08:48,670 --> 00:08:46,130
still an excellent organization it's

175
00:08:50,860 --> 00:08:48,680
still a can-do organization and it's

176
00:08:53,850 --> 00:08:50,870
capable of taking on technical

177
00:08:57,120 --> 00:08:53,860
challenges for the future I would love

178
00:09:00,940 --> 00:08:57,130
to have the assignment to come to NASA

179
00:09:03,370 --> 00:09:00,950
to go back to the moon to go on to Mars

180
00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:03,380
I think it would be in the best interest

181
00:09:07,690 --> 00:09:05,930
of the nation I think it would be in the

182
00:09:10,590 --> 00:09:07,700
best interest of the world because I

183
00:09:12,970 --> 00:09:10,600
believe it would would move technology

184
00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:12,980
forward and I think it would help us

185
00:09:17,560 --> 00:09:15,290
economically think it would make us

186
00:09:20,110 --> 00:09:17,570
stronger economically and I think it