We’re benefiting from products of space program

By Ivan Hardt

Apollo 11 and the rest of the Apollo program was one of the most successful ever in that not one life was lost in outer space.

When President John F. Kennedy made the challenge to be the first on the moon, it meant a crucial, short time line of unrealistic proportions. As an electrical engineer working for Bendix Life Support in Davenport my task and that of my colleagues was to design a frequency standard for space requirements, low power, light weight and rugged environmental. Its application was to provide a master clock to synchronize the electronic circuitry of the stable platform of the Saturn V Rocket.

We were required to initially build five prototypes followed by 20 units qualified for Apollo Missions. Since the prototypes were behind schedule, some intermediate tests were delayed until final testing before shipment.

It was about this time that disaster struck Apollo 1. While completing final tests on the launch pad, astronauts Virgil Grissom, Roger Chaffee and Edward White were instantly killed when a metal tool fell on electric circuitry, causing a spark. Because the capsule atmosphere contained pure oxygen, the entire contents including the astronauts were immediately engulfed in searing hot flame. Oxygen initially was used was to save much-needed precious weight.

The tragedy set the Apollo program back almost two years to redesign the capsule. This gave us and many other subcontractors time to re-evaluate designs and make improvements.

While assembling the next 20 units for Apollo flight, the technician decided to do some intermediate testing and assembled the boards without the post coat. Upon tightening the assembly, the unit shorted the power supply and quit. I was with the technician at the time and it was a complete sickening surprise to both of us. One board had a printed circuit lead routed so that it touched the “grounded” metal spacer used to separate the circuit boards. The reason the first five prototypes did not display this problem was because the boards were insulated by the post coat. This meant there was a fatal flaw in the first five prototypes that would fail under pressure, heat and vibration.

Shortly thereafter, I transferred to Collins Radio in Cedar Rapids. The first redesigned Apollo was designated Apollo 7. A day before the launch of Apollo 7, I got a panic call from the project engineer of the stable platform from Bendix in Teterboro, N.J. His question: “What unit did they have on the stable platform sitting on the Apollo 7 Launch Pad?”

As I remembered, we had shipped 20 good units but his question was that maybe a prototype had been used instead. I said that we had retrofitted the prototypes with an insulated washer so that it would not short. Needless to say there was some anxiety before Apollo 7 got safely launched the next day.

Grissom, Chaffee and White did not die in vain. I believe the extra delay in time gave many subcontractors additional time to verify and perfect their equipment. It is the reason that the Apollo program, with no lives lost in space, was the successful program it was.

Like the pyramids in Egypt and the faces of Mount Rushmore are forever evidence of fabulous feats, the Lunar Lander, the American flag, the Lunar Rover and the footprints on the moon are forever evidence of earthlings' creativity - all extraordinary feats performed by ordinary men.

Besides American pride, was the Apollo mission worth it? Many of the products we use and enjoy today, including cell phones and GPS, were derived from equipment engineered and pioneered for Apollo. You decide.

Ivan Hardt is a retired electrical engineer and business owner from Cedar Rapids.