Friday, April 18, 2008

A Trident Rocket Gone Wild/MICHOUD


The Michoud Plant in New Orleans seemed to be divided into two areas: Boeing and Chrysler. We at Boeing were working on the 1st Stage called the S1-C stage. We were in the front half of the building. The folks at Chrysler were in the rear of us and they were working on the S-II-T or the 2nd stage sometimes called the Battleship. Above us all was was the upper floors populated by the R & D Engineers. I thought they were angels and flew out of the windows to leave because we never saw them. I did once go up to the 2nd floor to visit with one. He spoke a strange language. I guess you could call it "engineer speak".
The Saturn V had 4 stages and they evolved as they were built and tested thus some stages had many designations such as letters or numbers. There is much to tell you about how each stage was built and the parts merged to make a great working part of the Saturn V.
Then there is the dark side. Explosions, destruction and heartbreak. Making rockets is not for sissies. When they work, they are wonderful but when they fail, it is spectacular and dangerous.

No comments:

Post a Comment