Project Apollo (and Shuttle): An Insider’s View – April 2023 Chapter Meeting

Kenneth Bowen has been an Air Force helicopter rescue pilot, an oil field roustabout, and since 1959 an aerospace engineer. After early years with McDonnell Aircraft as a wind tunnel engineer, including the pre-construction tests on what would become the Houston Astrodome, he was tapped by Link Simulations, Inc. to work on the team bringing the Lunar Module Simulator to life…a challenging task as, in those early ears, the design of the prototype they were modeling was still very much in flux!

Ken continued with Singer-Link and later Ford Aerospace into the Space Shuttle years. He headed up Ford’s Single System Trainer unit which Shuttle astronaut candidates used to practice approach and landing in the days when the large full motion simulator was still under development. He’s now retired and a grandfather of eight and father of two…including myself!

For those of you familiar with our Chapter’s meetings, once the (inevitable) technical glitches are resolved Ken will be first up on our program; there will be time for questions and answers and give and take. Chapter business will be minimal and will be conducted following Ken’s time to speak. Come and join us that night…either by Zoom or in person!


Clear Lake Area Chapter meeting:
Tuesday the 18th, 6:30 p.m.

The Clear Lake Area Chapter will meet on Tuesday, April 18th in the conference room of the Bay Area Community Center in Clear Lake Park beginning at 6:30 p.m. The address is 5002 NASA Road 1; Seabrook, Texas. The Community Center is north of NASA 1, away from the lake; enter through the side door adjacent to the parking lot as the main entrance may be locked after 5:00 p.m. A Zoom meeting option will also be available for the Chapter business portion of the meeting; information is posted below and on our Chapter web site.

As mentioned above, my dad Kenneth Bowen will be speaking on his time in the Apollo and Shuttle programs. Come hear the stories from a man who was there!

Our meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. and run to just before nine (when the facility closes). We’re planning to offer a few light refreshments and bottled water; your own contributions are also welcome of course!

Our next regularly scheduled meeting following this one is scheduled for Tuesday, June 20th, also at 6:30 p.m. Please note that this meeting will be in the small ‘break room’ next to the office as the conference room was already booked at the time we made our reservations. Other meetings for the balance of the year will be on August 15th and September 19th, and our Chapter’s annual meeting is scheduled for October 17th. The August, September, and October meetings will all be on Tuesday evenings at 6:30 p.m. in our normal venue, the conference room.

Zoom Meeting Info: Through an arrangement with the Clear Lake GTO club and our member David Cheuvront we’ve set up a Zoom meeting for remote attendees. The meeting info is as follows:

Topic: CLA-NSS April Meeting
Time: Apr 18, 2023 06:30 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87974059471?pwd=ZGJyVWhrM0RoSkN5Ukl6MngyZUVIQT09

Meeting ID: 879 7405 9471
Passcode: 141298
One tap mobile
+13462487799,,87974059471#,,,,*141298# US (Houston)
+17193594580,,87974059471#,,,,*141298# US

Dial by your location
        +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
        +1 719 359 4580 US
        +1 253 205 0468 US
        +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
        +1 669 444 9171 US
        +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
        +1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
        +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
        +1 305 224 1968 US
        +1 309 205 3325 US
        +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
        +1 360 209 5623 US
        +1 386 347 5053 US
        +1 507 473 4847 US
        +1 564 217 2000 US
        +1 646 931 3860 US
        +1 689 278 1000 US
Meeting ID: 879 7405 9471
Passcode: 141298
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdB55K6IMR

Meeting Documents

Our speaker has requested that the following documents be made available: “Our Time” by Gene Kranz, and “America Today/Tomorrow,” author unknown.