40^th Anniversary of the Lunar Landing 

by

Training Team Member &  Apollo Sequential Systems Instructor: 

Willard "Will" Waddell  

July 20, 2009 will mark the 40^th anniversary of American astronauts landing on the Moon. It will be an excellent time to reflect on what the Apollo Training Team accomplished in order to meet President John F. Kennedy’s stated goal in 1961 to send American astronauts on a mission to land on the Moon and to have them return to Earth safely in the decade of the 1960s.

The cadre of Customer Training Specialists listed herein, along with their  illustrious team leader, worked long hours preparing training courses and schedules for the astronauts, flight controllers, administrators, managers, engineers and technicians. Afterwards, in keeping with  the President's  goal, they  conducted these courses numerous  times at the NASA centers and at North American Aviation’s Space Division in Downey, California. Other associate and sub-contractor  personnel were also trained wherever they were based.

Forty years ago the news media and many speakers  compared  the Apollo 11 mission to Columbus discovering America. When one gives serious thought to that comparison, there are obviously many differences, and perhaps some similarities. For instance, Columbus wanted to discover a new shipping lane to India but didn't know exactly how to get there. He concluded that the Earth was round, whereas others maintained that it was flat. He ultimately set sail from Spain in a westerly direction in his attempt to get to India but instead  landed  in the Bahamas and was later credited with discovering America.

In the 1960s the  world knew the Earth was round, and where the Moon was located with respect to the Earth. They also understood that reaching the lunar destination  was their goal. Flying across the great void between Earth and the Moon was a gigantic challenge for the Americans, and  tremendously more difficult and more technical than sailing across the Atlantic Ocean. The challenge was embraced however, and subsequently achieved by designing and building the largest booster rocket to date and the Apollo spacecraft for the mission.

The Saturn V booster rocket and the various modules that made up the Apollo spacecraft may be seen at the visitor centers and museums at each of the NASA centers and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.  Space enthusiasts are urged to visit these museums and realize the massive effort put forth to transport Americans to the Moon, land them there and  safely return them to Earth. The Apollo training team made a  large contribution to that effort.

Customer Training Specialists toiled many hours in consultation with the Apollo Command and Service Module design and systems engineers in preparing the numerous training courses and aids required to train all  disciplines involved for each upcoming mission,  from liftoff through recovery back on Earth.  As you may conclude,, the training was considerably more technical and extensive than that  required to sail the Atlantic Ocean in the 1490s, yet like Columbus, this challenge included risk, and the exploration of many unknowns. 

Browsing the various sections of this site, you will be introduced to the cadre of training specialists including a short biography of each, and their systems training specialty.  Our late team leader will be introduced along with his description of the training approach. You will also be made aware of  the many awards presented to  team members  by the astronauts. as well as our company management.  Additionally, the photo gallery provides actual and typical classroom scenes of some of these training sessions.

During the past 40 years, many of our cadre, including the team leader, have passed on and unable to celebrate this momentous occasion with those of us remaining. For those who are , it is  once again another point in time since July 20, 1969 to feel proud of being a part of one of the greatest accomplishments the world has ever witnessed.

 Special Link; A real time audio tape of the Apollo 11 Missiom with interactive animation and countdown clocks for major events of the mission. Hear the Astronauts in conversation with Mission Control.