Posts: 2212
From: Worcestershire, England, UK.
Registered: Apr 2008

posted 02-17-2012 03:54 AM               

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Watching the Apollo 17 documentary on Quest last night got me thinking. Two British contributors interviewed were Keith Wright and Anthony Errington, one of which was involved with the ALSEP experiments. Forgive me, I cannot remember which one.

How many British-born scientists and engineers were involved with Apollo?

Posts: 2121
From: Essex, UK
Registered: Jul 2001

posted 02-17-2012 11:09 AM               

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It was Keith Wright who was involved with ALSEP, there was a list online of UK people involved with Apollo (and pre-Apollo) but my searches haven't come up with anything yet.

As far as I can remember Patrick Moore was credited with helping in the mapping, and of course John Hodge from my neck of the woods in Essex!

Posts: 642
From: Cinci, OH
Registered: Mar 2006

posted 02-17-2012 11:33 AM               

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There were a number of the ex-Avro engineers that came down from Canada that were actually British. Iif you don't know that story, you should. It's fascinating (and little known outside of our ranks) to find that these British and Canadian engineers practically made Mercury possible.

I think about 15 or 16 of the 30-some engineers were from the UK. They joined for the Mercury program, but most were still on board for Apollo. John Hodge was one. Tecwyn Roberts was Welsh.

You can find lots of information on these guys online, as well as bios and interviews with many of the living ones at the JSC Oral History Project website.

Posts: 3161
From: San Diego
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 02-17-2012 02:35 PM            

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quote:

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Originally posted by kr4mula:
You can find lots of information on these guys online, as well as bios and interviews with many of the living ones at the JSC Oral History Project website.

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I'd recommend an outstanding book on this very subject too. You'll learn about Brits like John Hodge, who left quite a mark - from Mercury to the current space station - and served as flight director during some of the space program(me)'s most critical moments.

Posts: 2212
From: Worcestershire, England, UK.
Registered: Apr 2008

Posts: 2454
From: U.K.
Registered: Jul 2009

posted 02-17-2012 03:18 PM               

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It was John Hodge who was FD for the Gemini 8 flight and made the decision to terminate it in the contingency area.

Don't forget either that the fuel cell was a British invention. Bacon (christian name escapes me) responsible.

Posts: 2212
From: Worcestershire, England, UK.
Registered: Apr 2008