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Author
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Topic: Atlas engineer Thomas O'Malley (1915-2009)
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Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 23493
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted November 08, 2009 12:49 AM
   
Florida Today: Thomas J. O'Malley, dead at 94, sent Glenn into space Legendary space industry engineer Thomas J. O'Malley, 94, died Friday evening, shortly after a phone call from Mercury astronaut and former U.S. Sen. John Glenn, whom O'Malley launched into space in 1962 by pushing a button.O'Malley had displayed the button in the den of his Cocoa Beach home. Daughter Kathleen O'Malley said the conversation between Glenn and her father on Friday was brief, but she related hearing O'Malley say, "Hello, John Glenn," to the former astronaut. He was called to the human spaceflight program in 1961, while working for the Convair division of General Dynamics, where he was a test engineer for the Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile, according to family historian Cornelia Dean, O'Malley's niece. The Atlas missile had experienced a series of launch pad explosions... 
Credit: NASA Thomas J. O'Malley, left, and John Glenn sit in front of Friendship 7 |
randy
Member Posts: 1087
From: West Jordan, Utah USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted November 08, 2009 01:07 AM
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KSCartist
Member Posts: 2300
From: Titusville, FL USA
Registered: Feb 2005
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posted November 08, 2009 03:48 AM
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Delta7
Member Posts: 1036
From: Ossian IN USA
Registered: Oct 2007
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posted November 08, 2009 04:25 AM
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Henk Boshuijer
Member Posts: 345
From: Netherlands
Registered: May 2007
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posted November 08, 2009 05:49 AM
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GACspaceguy
Member Posts: 1011
From: Guyton, GA
Registered: Jan 2006
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posted November 08, 2009 06:16 AM
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Jeff
Member Posts: 174
From: Fayetteville, NC, USA
Registered: May 2009
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posted November 08, 2009 07:18 AM
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LCDR Scott Schneeweis
Member Posts: 1620
From: Sierra Vista, Arizona
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted November 08, 2009 07:57 AM
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hlbjr
Member Posts: 279
From: Delray Beach Florida USA
Registered: Mar 2006
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posted November 08, 2009 07:57 AM
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bcrussell
Member Posts: 53
From: Madison, AL. USA
Registered: Jan 2008
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posted November 08, 2009 08:34 AM
"Good Lord ride all the way"
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John Charles
Member Posts: 310
From: Houston, Texas, USA
Registered: Jun 2004
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posted November 08, 2009 10:53 AM
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413 is in
Member Posts: 296
From: Alexandria, VA USA
Registered: May 2006
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posted November 08, 2009 11:17 AM
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Lou Chinal
Member Posts: 864
From: Staten Island, NY
Registered: Jun 2007
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posted November 08, 2009 01:19 PM
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Rick Mulheirn
Member Posts: 1916
From: England
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted November 08, 2009 02:52 PM
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bruce
Member Posts: 802
From: Fort Mill, SC, USA
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted November 08, 2009 07:49 PM
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ejectr
Member Posts: 1444
From: Brimfield, MA
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted November 08, 2009 08:23 PM
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cddfspace
Member Posts: 594
From: Morris County, NJ, USA
Registered: Jan 2006
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posted November 08, 2009 08:51 PM
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Lunar rock nut
Member Posts: 677
From: Oklahoma city, Oklahoma U.S.A.
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted November 09, 2009 06:57 AM
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Scott
Member Posts: 3272
From: Houston, TX
Registered: May 2001
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posted November 09, 2009 08:37 AM
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capoetc
Member Posts: 1520
From: Newnan GA (USA)
Registered: Aug 2005
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posted November 09, 2009 10:32 AM
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ilbasso
Member Posts: 1246
From: Greensboro, NC USA
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted November 09, 2009 05:27 PM
We heard the story that when O'Malley was Director of Launch Operations for Mercury at Pad 14, he was frequently unable to find the pad entrance road in the early pre-dawn hours, as there were no street lights along Missile Row. A street light was erected at the Pad 14 entrance, and was given a plaque identifying it as "O'Malley's Guiding Light." We saw it today on the "Cape Canaveral Then and Now" tour. |
E2M Lem Man
Member Posts: 757
From: Los Angeles CA. USA
Registered: Jan 2005
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posted November 09, 2009 05:46 PM
We will miss you, Terrible Tommy. Your friends old at NAA-Rockwell Downey.  . J M Busby
Aerospace Legacy Foundation |
Jay Chladek
Member Posts: 1566
From: Bellevue, NE, USA
Registered: Aug 2007
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posted November 09, 2009 10:58 PM
I have a DVD from Lockheed Martin about the launch of the last stage and a half Atlas and it included a retrospective video about the original Atlas design. Tom O'Malley was one of the subjects interviewed as he was involved in the early testing of the Atlas ICBM for Convair before he worked in the Mercury program. In those days, one had to be tough when it came to testing a brand new rocket design.Guenter Wendt's book "The Unbroken Chain" did provide some tidbits on O'Malley as well since apparently the pair didn't get along too well (sounds almost like a weird marriage in retrospect given their jobs). But the two did have respect for one another based on what Guenter told me when I met him in 2004. Reading about the KSC careers of both Tom and Guenter, they practically parallel one another as both were brought back to work for North American after Apollo 1 and both stayed at KSC through the 1980s before retiring (although Guenter went to California for a few years when OV-101 Enterprise was being built). It just goes to show that even though certain individuals might not have gotten along perfectly. In the job of putting people into space, they still got the job done and we enjoy the fruits of those labors today. Thanks for your service Tom! |
NavySpaceFan
Member Posts: 582
From: Norfolk, VA
Registered: May 2007
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posted November 10, 2009 07:02 AM
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historyinminiature
Member Posts: 479
From: Slatington, PA U.S.A.
Registered: Mar 2009
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posted November 10, 2009 07:07 AM
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AstroAutos
Member Posts: 693
From: Monaghan Town, Co. Monaghan, Ireland
Registered: Mar 2009
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posted November 10, 2009 02:00 PM
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rjb1elec
Member Posts: 97
From: St Helens, Merseyside, England
Registered: Oct 2004
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posted November 10, 2009 03:27 PM
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astro-nut
Member Posts: 400
From: washington, Illinois USA
Registered: Jan 2006
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posted November 10, 2009 03:54 PM
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Dave Clow
Member Posts: 138
From: South Pasadena, CA 91030
Registered: Nov 2003
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posted November 10, 2009 08:49 PM
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Joe Frasketi
Member Posts: 159
From: Florida USA
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted November 10, 2009 10:45 PM
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Spoon
Member Posts: 61
From: Carlisle, England
Registered: May 2006
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posted November 11, 2009 02:47 AM
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skye12
Member Posts: 32
From: Austin,Tx,USA
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted November 11, 2009 01:39 PM
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nicholas
Member Posts: 60
From: oxford,england
Registered: Jun 2001
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posted November 12, 2009 05:53 AM
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