| "Arrows
To The Moon", is the amazing story of the
Canadian and British AVRO engineers that were whisked
away to NASA on the eve of the cancellation of
the 'Arrow' project. The research Mr.Gainor has
put into this book is incredible. These engineers
were leaders of the American space program, and
they were unknown, until now. |
A MUST READ! Scott
McArthur, Technical Director Arrow Recovery
Canada Inc. |
Left to Right-Bryan Erb, Stanley
Galezowski, Bruce Aikenhead, Owen Maynard,
David Ewart and Owen Coons
May 1994 reunion in Toronto
" As the Space
Task Group's burden was threatening to overwhelm
it, the Canadian government unintentionally gave
the American space program its luckiest break
since Wernher von Braun had surrendered to the
Americans ------ The Canadians never gained much
public recognition for their contribution to
the manned space program, but to the people within
the program their contribution was incalculable"* |
|
On
February 20, 1959, the Canadian government shut
down the CF-105 Avro Arrow jet interceptor program,
putting thousands of workers and the cream of
Canada's aerospace engineering talent out of
work. Avro
Canada had over 200 engineers employed, working
on several projects. These engineers immediately
sought new employment. Some remained in Canada,
moving out of the aviation field, some traveled
to Great Britain and found employ working on
the design of the Concorde SST. Most went to
the United States. South of the border, a brand
new organization called the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration was charged with putting
U.S. astronauts into space, and it desperately
needed engineers. Within 10 weeks of the demise
of the Arrow, 25 Avro engineers were working
for NASA, and another six would join them later.
Other Avro engineers found work with the aerospace
contractors that worked with NASA.
A little more than 10 years later, US astronauts would stand on
the surface of the Moon in what became one of the greatest stories
of technology and exploration in human history. |
|
A Sample selection of the Engineers:
Jim Chamberlin |
|
The former designer of the Arrow who went on
to design the Gemini spacecraft and help NASA
decide how to go to the Moon.
|
Project
Manager
Mercury,
Designer and Project Manager Gemini
Technical Advisor and Troubleshooter for Bob Gilruth, MSC Director
(Apollo).
Shuttle concepts |
Owen
Maynard |
|
Owen Maynard, the engineer from
Sarnia, Ont., who quickly rose through the ranks
to give life to the Apollo Lunar Module and later
oversee the engineering effort on Apollo.
|
| NASA
Space Task Force, Chief Engineering Designer of the
Lunar Landing Module. |
John Hodge |
|
John Hodge (1929- ) began a distinguished
career at NASA in 1959. He worked in the area of
flight control at Langley Research Center and the
Johnson Space Center until 1970. In 1982 he became
Director of the Space Station Task Force at NASA
Headquarters. He then took on a series of increasingly
responsible positions dealing with the Space Station,
culminating with him being named Associate Administrator
for Operations, Space Station, in 1986.
|
| Flight
Director, Gemini and Apollo Programs |
| Rod
Rose |
|
The British engineer who helped
plan the Apollo missions and picked out the first
prayer to be broadcast from space.
|
Rockets,
Mission Operations assistant to Chris Kraft.
Apollo and Shuttle
mission planning |
Chris
Gainor The Author
Chris
Gainor, the author of Arrows to the Moon, has had a
lifelong interest in space exploration and is a Fellow
of the British Interplanetary Society. He is a communications
professional in Victoria, B.C. As a journalist, he
won a National Newspaper Award, and has written about
space exploration for publications including the Globe
and Mail, the Vancouver Sun, the Medical Post, Spaceflight
magazine, and Quest, the history of spaceflight quarterly.
For the past six years, he has been researching and
writing Arrows to the Moon. His research includes extensive
interviews with the NASA/Avro engineers and those who
worked with them, and documents from NASA and other
archives.
*Apollo: The Race
to the Moon,Simon and Shuster,New York,Charles
Murray and Catherine Bly-Cox.1969
|
