From Archery to...NASA?
In 1967 I worked for Easton Aluminum as an arrow straightener for $1.75 an hour (minimum wage). One Saturday while I was working overtime to earn a few extra bucks, Jim Easton came into the room and asked if anyone knew how to type. I volunteered that I could and was taken to Mary Easton’s Office. I was asked to type out two copies of what turned out to be a proposal to NASA. One of Jim’s friends was a Cryogenic Engineer and had come up with an idea for the NASA Space Project. After a few weeks, Jim approached me and said that NASA wanted a prototype for testing and would I like to help them build it in the evenings? I gladly accepted and it didn’t take long to get the project done and shipped off to NASA. After testing the unit, the project was awarded to Jim and his friend. The company that they had formed was Space Energy Control Systems, Inc. The shortened version was S.E.C.S, Inc. Jim asked me if I would like to head up the project and build the units.
I accepted the job and ended up building a total of 16 units. They were insulation shrouds for the seismometer that was placed on the moon. They shroud would keep the seismometer at +- one degree with one watt of energy while the moon’s surface changed from +250 to -250. The photo here shows the unit deployed on the moon. It is the circular silver item in the forefront of the photo. There are 4 units up on the surface. So on this day 50 years ago I watched the moon landing on a black & white TV along with a bunch of other guys while deployed in Vietnam. It was a proud day for our country and an even prouder day for me just knowing that I had a very small part in helping to make this effort successful for the USA.