Rocket Memories

By: Charles Gamblin
14 January 2008
My Apollo Space Program memories are an exciting 11 year short story of life changing events, experiences and professional endeavors. A few such memories are listed:

04 Nov 1957 (plus a day or two) – As a senior engineering student I stood on the roof of the Sigma-Chi Fraternity House at Georgia Tech and watched the  pin-point “moon light” of Sputnik pass over Atlanta GA.  A few weeks later, I read a TIME article about Werner von Braun and the Peenemunde Rocket Center in Germany. I still remember the magazine photo of von Braun (with his arm in a cast) surrendering to the allies!

16 June 1958 -  Started my aerospace structures career as a Chrysler Contractor with the Army Ballistics Missile Agency (ABMA) at a desk located on a third floor stairwell landing of ABMA Bldg 4488, ironically just 4 or 5 hallway doors up from von Braun’s office! As I remember, we only exchanged a smile or a nod as we met in the hallway! A few times I shared a cafeteria table with Dr. Hermann Obreth, von Braun’s college physics professor from Germany. He did not have the security clearances required to go to the Staff dining room with von Braun and the Army Brass!

4 May 1960, I witnessed from a hill (~300 yards away), the first static firing of the eight engine SATURN booster at MSFC. My chest was hit by the blast before my ears heard.

June 1960 thru 1963 – As a Brown Engineering Contractor in the NASA Structural Analysis Group in MSFC Bldg 4610, I was responsible for the design development [1] of the SATURN Booster Internal Structure Load Analysis [2].  Based on my engineering calculations [3], the first launch of the SATURN vehicle was pushed back for about a month to resolve structural load concerns! The first SATURN I vehicle lift-off from Cape Canaveral, Florida was successful at 9:06 a.m. (CST) on 27 Oct 1961.

Mid 1960’s – Late one work day during a structural test in MSFC Bldg 4712, I was standing about 10 feet from the nearest of approximately forty tension straps (~ one inch thick, ~10 inches wide and ~15 feet long) that where used to apply loads to a full-scale SATURN V intertank static test segment. I suddenly had to jump back many more feet when the straps (each fully loaded with ~50,000 lbs tension) started vibrating violently and then snapping in a loud explosive manner!  While the structural test was under way at Bldg 4712, a live static firing of the SATURN V engines was started at the propulsion test facility about a half mile away causing a local ‘earthquake’ wave ripple under the test fixture in Bldg 4712!  Dr. von Braun sent out a memo the next day saying all MSFC test scheduling would be coordinated to prevent such problems in the future.

Aug 1968 thru 1969 - I worked as a Boeing Contractor in the NASA/MSFC Saturn Apollo Flight Evaluation Working Group.  On 16 July 1969 – I was blessed to be at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) viewing area for the Apollo 11 launch along with a few hundred other MFSC colleges. At Liftoff (9:32 a.m. EST) we were all yelling very loud and proud GO - GO –GO (like at a football game, but much more so)!!

20 Jul 1969 – Four days later at home alone and kneeling in front of the TV – when hearing the intercom words from Buzz Aldrin - “Contact Light” - I immediately felt the chills traveling all along my spine – we had touched the Moon [4]!

Footnotes:
[1] A design development example was the presentation of the loads analysis results for the loss of one booster engine during launch at a joint meeting (1962 or 1963) between the MSFC Structural Design and Analysis groups and the Houston Space Flight Center Astronauts (Frank Borman and Deke Slayton).

[2] The structural analysis effort was highlighted in the 2 Aug 1961 issue of the MFSC Marshall-Star weekly news bulletin.

[3] A few years ago I compared my ‘primitive’ calculations to recalculated results using a modern structural finite element computer program. The technical paper is located in the software user’s conference web site at http://www.mscsoftware.com/support/library/conf/auc99/p01299.pdf.

The SATURN Loads Analysis originals (vellums) were recently given to the Space and Rocket Center Museum Archives in Huntsville, Alabama.

[4] Since those Apollo 11 years of memories, I have had opportunities to work on the Hubble Space Telescope project with Jan Davis (before she became an astronaut), on a Space Station Microgravity project with Dr Stuhlinger (von Braun’s Chief Scientist), and with other Mission Specialist Astronauts on various Space Station payload projects. I am now working with the Army Aviation Directorate (AED) at Redstone Arsenal; ironically, back at Army building 4488, around the hallway corner from my desk area in 1958!

Submitted By: Gisela Vowe Galzerano, Daughter, & Gregg Galzerano, Grandson of Theodor Karl Otto Vowe

Beer drinking in barracks at White Sands	Dinner with Dr. von Braun	Engine Inspection
OPA - NSU Motorad Germany
Operation Paperclip	Operation Paperclip	Operation Paperclip
V2 Engine at White Sands	V2 on stand at White Sands	V2 test launch at White Sands, NM
		Von Braun
He was a gentle man with a tremendous sense of humor. His first love was music. He taught himself to play the guitar and at age 18, he began cello lessons. Wherever he lived, he played in the local symphony orchestra. In his early career, he worked at a Schraubenfabrik in Remmighausen, a suburb of Detmold, Germany. Then came news that young engineers were being hired in Peenemuende, near the Baltic Sea. Vati was hired and moved to Peenemuende. Fearing for our safety there, it was decided that Mutti, my twin Ursula and I remain in Remmighausen. We seldom saw Vati, he and his team were working on a secret Government Project in Peenemuende. Difficult times were soon to follow. The seconde World War had started, and food was rationed. We relied heavily on our gardens. It seemed that we were always hungry. There had bee no word from Vati for many months and we feared for the worst. Then, one day Vati appeared, he must have walked from Bavaria to North Germany. It was a joyous occasion. He told us when they realized the war was lost, they knew the Allies would be searching for the group of scientists who developed the V-2 rocket. so they journeyed south until they encountered an American battalion. Magnus, the brother of Wernher von Braun spoke English and approached the Sgt. in charge. It seemed they were already aware of the existence of these men. They were immediately shipped to a holding camp in Garmisch where they remained for seveal months. Vati tells me that on occasion, messages were relayed to the group through a barred basement window.Coming home from school one day, I saw a British military truck parked in front of our house. Inside were two officers conferring with my parents. they had conveyed an offer for Vati to continue his work in America. Shortly thereafter, a few of our belongings were placed onto a canvas-covered military truck, and we found seats in the back. As we traveled through Detmold, I saw my grandfather waving good-bye. Somewhere along the way, we were transferred to a train for our journey to Landshut.A new life had begun. The men were immediately shipped to a place in the American desert, where large snakes were everywhere and strange dogs howled at night. Food was plentiful, and for recreation, they played their instruments and built furniture. This place was called White Sands, N.M. Whenever possible, they sent home “care packages” containing cigarettes with which we bartered, and other items impossible to find in Germany.Meanwhile, the wives and children were settled into blocks of apartments in Landshut. We lived under the protection of the U.S. military. There was a little church, a building called our school. A U.S. military base adjoined this project. The Isaar river flowed nearby. We were at the foothills of the Bavarian Alps. Life for us, was much better than it was for almost everyone in Germany. The country was destroyed, families were torn apart, there was little food for the population.Then came the time to make the big voyage to America. We departed Landshut in groups. Whenever a bus load left, our school group gathere to sing, “Nun Adee du mein Lieb Heimatland”. In March of 1947, we too departed for the journey across the ocean in U.S. Naval transport ship. It seemed that all of us were housed in a huge room with bunk beds. Many of the adults became sea sick, but for us children, it was an adventure. We were confined to a certain area and not allowed to mix with others. The journey was endless, they were sweeping for mines, we were told. Lat last, we reached New York! All passengers disembarked, but our group was to remain on board. One morning, busses arrived to transport us to the train depot. With M.P. escorts in tow, we waited patiently for our train ride to Texas. Two people approached Ursula and me, and actually spoke German. They were soon ordered by our escorts not to indulge in conversation. They soon returned and handed us candy. Our very first taste of a candy bar. I remember the rush of saliva as I but into something so delicious and sweet. The train ride took three days. We had our own car, which was connected to various trains heading West. Our eyes were filled with wonder! There were so many automobiles, and ladies with blue hair and paint on their faces! Finally, the bid day arrived. It was our 10th birthday and Vati would greet us in El Paso. Here he stood, flowers in his hand, and he was twice as heavy as I remembered.Texas was the beginning of a whole new world for us. We lived in the desert surrounded by fences with barbed wire on top. Our compound, called the Research and Development Center, had 3 gates, each guarded by MPs. During our first sumemr, teachers were brought to our compound to give us some berlitz sessions in english. We were to be integrated into the El Paso public school system in Sept.Sept. arrived. We were bussed to the school with an MP guard always present. Our compound in the desert - a converted military hospital base, became an oasis, ramp A and B, that is. Ramp C was occupied by Americans, who took little pride into making a desert look like a jungle. We planted morning glories, grass and flowers. There was a swimming pool at our disposal and our fathers developed the rockets right there where we lived. What more could we desire! Perhaps a little more freedom to roam - as kids, we were innovative. We dug holes under the fences, into the vast desert beyond, only to find them closed again the next morning. After 3 years in our compound, the U.S. Government decided it was time for our group to immigrate to the United States. We boarded a bus and were driven across the border to Juarez, Mexico and from there, we officially entered the United States. Soon, word came that the Missile Development was to be moved to a place called Alabama. It’s geographical terrain resembles the lower alpine area of Germany. On a summer day in 1950, we loaded our green and white Ford and headed east. In Huntsville we rented our first house - a house with a fenced yard. The owner came on the first of every month and collected his rent. He never talked to us, but we assumed he like us because we kept his house very clean. Mr. Alvin Dreger contacted Vati before we left Texas. He heard Vati plays the cello. They became friends, and both played in the Decatur orchestra. When the Huntsville Symphony was formed, they became founding members and played for almost 30 years. I do remember Vati making me play in the orchestra. I hated it, I was the only teen, and the worst cellist in the orchestra. In 1952, we moved from our rented house into our very own house near A&M college. The house was tiny by most standards and cost approx. $7,000. During the summers, we joined our parents along with other German families, spending Sundays at Ossa-Wintha on Guntersville Lake. Their social life evolved around other German families they had known in Germany. Three years prior to his retirement, Vati was transferred to Cape Canaveral, Fl. When he retired, they returned to Huntsville. and enjoyed a long life in the house they they built with pride in 1958.

Klaus Rosinski - Son of Werner Rosinski, Electrical Enginer, Original Von Braun Team member

	Klaus Rosinski remembers one of his father’s stories from Peenemünde. (1:02)
	Klaus recalls the night of the RAF “Operation Hydra” (17/18 August 1943) bombing raid on Peenemünde. (2:04)
	Klaus remembers the German scientists leaving their families in Landstuhl in order to avoid Hitler’s SS at the end of WWII. (0:33)
	Klaus talks about the German scientist’s families and their early days at Ft. Bliss, Texas. (2:17)
	Klaus describes life at Ft. Bliss. (1:15)
	Early Huntsville memories, sister babysits for von Braun. humorous (1:19)
	Werner Rosinski and his family ran a filling station in downtown Huntsville, to supplement their income. (1:10)
	Dad used to repair small home electrical items for fellow von Braun team members, including von Braun (0:39)
	von Braun team fished along the Rio Grande in El Paso for carp. (A German delicacy!) (1:03)

Welcome to the beginning of our journey! This is a journey to gather your memories and recollections, to learn of your experience during your association with the Space Program. On January 31, 2008, NASA will celebrate 50 years of space flight and exploration! We want to include those of you that participated.

If you or you spouse, parent, or sibling, worked for NASA or was associated with the early days of the space program we want to hear from you. We want to see some old photos, and photos of you today!

This is an effort to create a “Living History” of America’s, as well as, Huntsville’s role in the Space Program. Please visit our contact form…. Leave us your memories!

Thanks, we look forward to hearing from you!

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEND US YOUR RECOLLECTIONS VIA AN EMAIL: “Rocket Boys” Memories