This firsthand account of the development of the Apollo 11 mission gives a behind-the-scenes look at the 1969 moon landing mission from an engineer's perspective. The technical problems and solutions of designing a capsule to carry three astronauts--Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins--safely to the moon and back are covered in detail from the author's point of view. The contributions of Latino personnel in the Apollo program are described.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction
1.The Apollo Unmanned Capsules and Some Eagle Knights
2.AFRM 009 and the Eagle Knight Lead Engineer
3.The AFRM 009 Control Programmer Team and a New AFRM 009 Mission
4.The Control Programmer
5.AFRM 009 Control Programmer Supervision
6.Finalizing AFRM 009s Control Programmer on Paper Design
7.Control Programmer Initial Tests and Eagle Knight Cruz Mora
8.The Baseline Control Programmer Design
9.Preparing AFRM 009 for Launch
10.The Launch of AFRM 009
11.Mission Control Programmer for AFRMs 011, 017 and 020
12.Final MCP Design for AFRMs 011, 017 and 020
13.Farewell to the Mission Control Programmer
14.The Honeywell Resident Representative Assignment
15.Fulfilling the Honeywell Commitment and More Eagle Knights
16.Returning to Downey and More Eagle Knights
17.A New Assignment and More Eagle Knights
18.The Manned Apollo Capsules and More Eagle Knights
19.Apollo Command Module Problems and More Eagle Knights
20.Manned Apollo First Flight and More Eagle Knights
21.Prelude to a Moon Landing with More Eagle Knights Participating
22.Solving One Last Major Problem Before the Moon Landing
23.We Land on the Moon and a Few More Eagle Knights
Epilogue
Appendix: Notes Taken During My Support of Apollo 10 MissionMay 1969
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index
Jim De La Rosa is a retired aerospace engineer living in Tucson, Arizona. He has taught Radar electronics in the Air Force, worked for Hughes Aircraft Company, designed electronic circuits for Airborne Radar systems, designed Flight Control Systems for Guided Missiles at North American Aviation, designed systems for the Apollo capsules that took astronauts to the moon, designed electronic systems to fly the Space Shuttle, designed systems for rockets at The Aerospace Corporation and was a Consultant Engineer.
