Author
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Topic: Atlas engineer Thomas O'Malley (1915-2009)
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Robert Pearlman Editor Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 11-08-2009 12:49 AM
Florida Today: Thomas J. O'Malley, dead at 94, sent Glenn into space Legendary space industry engineer Thomas J. O'Malley, 94, died Friday evening, shortly after a phone call from Mercury astronaut and former U.S. Sen. John Glenn, whom O'Malley launched into space in 1962 by pushing a button.O'Malley had displayed the button in the den of his Cocoa Beach home. Daughter Kathleen O'Malley said the conversation between Glenn and her father on Friday was brief, but she related hearing O'Malley say, "Hello, John Glenn," to the former astronaut. He was called to the human spaceflight program in 1961, while working for the Convair division of General Dynamics, where he was a test engineer for the Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile, according to family historian Cornelia Dean, O'Malley's niece. The Atlas missile had experienced a series of launch pad explosions... Credit: NASA Thomas J. O'Malley, left, and John Glenn sit in front of Friendship 7 |
randy Member Posts: 2176 From: West Jordan, Utah USA Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 11-08-2009 01:07 AM
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KSCartist Member Posts: 2896 From: Titusville, FL USA Registered: Feb 2005
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posted 11-08-2009 03:48 AM
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Delta7 Member Posts: 1505 From: Bluffton IN USA Registered: Oct 2007
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posted 11-08-2009 04:25 AM
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Henk Boshuijer Member Posts: 450 From: Netherlands Registered: May 2007
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posted 11-08-2009 05:49 AM
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GACspaceguy Member Posts: 2476 From: Guyton, GA Registered: Jan 2006
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posted 11-08-2009 06:16 AM
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Jeff Member Posts: 474 From: Fayetteville, NC, USA Registered: May 2009
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posted 11-08-2009 07:18 AM
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LCDR Scott Schneeweis New Member Posts: From: Registered:
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posted 11-08-2009 07:57 AM
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hlbjr Member Posts: 475 From: Delray Beach Florida USA Registered: Mar 2006
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posted 11-08-2009 07:57 AM
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bcrussell Member Posts: 73 From: Madison, AL. USA Registered: Jan 2008
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posted 11-08-2009 08:34 AM
"Good Lord ride all the way"
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John Charles Member Posts: 339 From: Houston, Texas, USA Registered: Jun 2004
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posted 11-08-2009 10:53 AM
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413 is in Member Posts: 628 From: Alexandria, VA USA Registered: May 2006
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posted 11-08-2009 11:17 AM
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Lou Chinal Member Posts: 1306 From: Staten Island, NY Registered: Jun 2007
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posted 11-08-2009 01:19 PM
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Rick Mulheirn Member Posts: 4167 From: England Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 11-08-2009 02:52 PM
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bruce Member Posts: 916 From: Fort Mill, SC, USA Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 11-08-2009 07:49 PM
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ejectr Member Posts: 1751 From: Killingly, CT Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 11-08-2009 08:23 PM
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cddfspace Member Posts: 609 From: Morris County, NJ, USA Registered: Jan 2006
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posted 11-08-2009 08:51 PM
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Lunar rock nut Member Posts: 911 From: Oklahoma city, Oklahoma U.S.A. Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 11-09-2009 06:57 AM
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Scott Member Posts: 3307 From: Houston, TX Registered: May 2001
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posted 11-09-2009 08:37 AM
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capoetc Member Posts: 2169 From: McKinney TX (USA) Registered: Aug 2005
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posted 11-09-2009 10:32 AM
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ilbasso Member Posts: 1522 From: Greensboro, NC USA Registered: Feb 2006
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posted 11-09-2009 05:27 PM
We heard the story that when O'Malley was Director of Launch Operations for Mercury at Pad 14, he was frequently unable to find the pad entrance road in the early pre-dawn hours, as there were no street lights along Missile Row. A street light was erected at the Pad 14 entrance, and was given a plaque identifying it as "O'Malley's Guiding Light." We saw it today on the "Cape Canaveral Then and Now" tour. |
E2M Lem Man Member Posts: 846 From: Los Angeles CA. USA Registered: Jan 2005
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posted 11-09-2009 05:46 PM
We will miss you, Terrible Tommy. Your friends old at NAA-Rockwell Downey. . J M Busby Aerospace Legacy Foundation |
Jay Chladek Member Posts: 2272 From: Bellevue, NE, USA Registered: Aug 2007
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posted 11-09-2009 10:58 PM
I have a DVD from Lockheed Martin about the launch of the last stage and a half Atlas and it included a retrospective video about the original Atlas design. Tom O'Malley was one of the subjects interviewed as he was involved in the early testing of the Atlas ICBM for Convair before he worked in the Mercury program. In those days, one had to be tough when it came to testing a brand new rocket design.Guenter Wendt's book "The Unbroken Chain" did provide some tidbits on O'Malley as well since apparently the pair didn't get along too well (sounds almost like a weird marriage in retrospect given their jobs). But the two did have respect for one another based on what Guenter told me when I met him in 2004. Reading about the KSC careers of both Tom and Guenter, they practically parallel one another as both were brought back to work for North American after Apollo 1 and both stayed at KSC through the 1980s before retiring (although Guenter went to California for a few years when OV-101 Enterprise was being built). It just goes to show that even though certain individuals might not have gotten along perfectly. In the job of putting people into space, they still got the job done and we enjoy the fruits of those labors today. Thanks for your service Tom! |
NavySpaceFan Member Posts: 655 From: Norfolk, VA Registered: May 2007
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posted 11-10-2009 07:02 AM
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historyinminiature New Member Posts: From: Registered:
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posted 11-10-2009 07:07 AM
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AstroAutos Member Posts: 803 From: Co. Monaghan, Republic of Ireland Registered: Mar 2009
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posted 11-10-2009 02:00 PM
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rjb1elec Member Posts: 212 From: Merseyside, England Registered: Oct 2004
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posted 11-10-2009 03:27 PM
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astro-nut Member Posts: 946 From: Washington, IL Registered: Jan 2006
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posted 11-10-2009 03:54 PM
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Dave Clow Member Posts: 236 From: South Pasadena, CA 91030 Registered: Nov 2003
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posted 11-10-2009 08:49 PM
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Joe Frasketi Member Posts: 191 From: Florida USA Registered: Aug 2003
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posted 11-10-2009 10:45 PM
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Spoon Member Posts: 143 From: Cumbria, UK Registered: May 2006
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posted 11-11-2009 02:47 AM
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skye12 Member Posts: 49 From: Austin, TX, USA Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 11-11-2009 01:39 PM
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nicholas Member Posts: 65 From: oxford,england Registered: Jun 2001
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posted 11-12-2009 05:53 AM
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