1. Our regular monthly beer social,
organized by our member Larry Ratcliff, will be held - as usual -
this Thursday, December 6, starting at 4:00 p.m. at the Gilruth
pavilion. Come on out and have a beer or soft drink and commune with
other members. Hopefully the launch of STS - 122 will have just
happened so there will be plenty tomtalk about. Also, consider
slipping Larry Ratcliff a couple of bucks to help with the expenses
of this nice monthly get - together.
2. The regular retirees luncheon at
Ryan's Steakhouse in Webster will also be held this Thursday at
11:30 a.m. Ryan's reserves a room in the back for our group. Please
come by and visit!
3. The NASA Alumni League
Headquarters Office has moved and their new addressm - if you need
to contact them. The new address is:
NASA Alumni League Headquarters
1212 New York Ave.
Suite 450
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202-289-3999
4. Our Chapter has recently made its
annual contributions to Space Center Houston and to the Challenger
Center at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, to support the
visits of student groups who would not ordinarily be able to attend
these facilities and enjoy their activities. We donated $2500 to
each facility, as we have done for several years. We appreciate your
donations to this activity when you send in your membership
renewals.
5. Our Fall Social and Dinner on
November 29 at the Gilruth Center was well attended - over 60 folks
made it to enjoy the social hour, the BBQ dinner, and the excellent
presentation by Dr. Albert Jackson on Werner Von Braun's Road to
Mars.
6. Our member Lee Snapp has
contacted me to let me know he is busy re-opening his activity for
education at Salish Kootenai College, Montana, on the Flathead
Reservation, where he is working on developing engineering programs
for the nation's tribal colleges and universities. That's great
work, Lee - and is a continuation of this activity he started before
his retirement. You can contact Lee at P.O. Box 216, Polson, MT
59860, and at phone 406-883-0201.
7. As many of you who attended our
last NAL dinner know, Paul Purser’s daughter, Peg, is in the process
of writing her dad’s biography. Unfortunately, Paul died in 2003 and
was predeceased by the rest of the family in 2000 through 2002, so
Peg is struggling to find information and stories about her father.
She is asking that anyone who worked with Paul directly or
indirectly contact her so she might receive emailed information from
you or interview you. Her main questions are:
- What do you know about Paul’s
work from 1939-1945 (atmospheric wind tunnels at NACA-Langley);
then from 1946-1958 (Pilotless Aircraft Research Division
–
PARD –
NACA-Langley and Wallops); then 1958-1968 (NASA Space Task Group
and Manned Spacecraft Center); 1968-1969 (UH helping to
establish UHCL); any time after 1969.
- What human interest stories can
you tell about Paul?
- What stories about management,
working situations/conditions and NACA/NASA culture are
pertinent to the book? What the culture was then on its own
and/or how it has changed over the years.
- What can you tell her about the
implementation of some or all of the aeronautic testing results
he did in the wind tunnels? He worked mainly on wing and tail
sections but also some on fuselages and entire planes. How did
the aviation industry employ the applications and designs that
received favorable outcomes during the wind tunnel testing?
- On the same lines, which of
Paul’s wind tunnel research projects resulted in real-life tests
conducted by Gilruth’s division using real planes and test
pilots?
- She is telling the NACA/NASA
story about the engineers who made it happen and from that point
of view, rather than about the astronauts and their point of
view, so she would like anything else you think would be
interesting to tell about NACA and NASA during 1939-1968.
You can reach Peg Purser at
peg@mkpconsulting.com or
281-852-8185 or 8950 Shoreview Ln, Humble, TX 77346. I know she
would appreciate hearing from all of you and will gladly credit you
in the book where appropriate and not attribute things to you that
you would rather be kept anonymous. She lives in NE Houston and can
come back down to Clear Lake for personal interviews or can talk to
you by phone or email.
8. Last month I passed along a note
from Greg Hayes about a piece of legislation (HB 1110) that would
allow retirees to pay their health insurance premiums on a pre-tax
basis. Our Treasurer, Stan Faber, who is also active in the local
NARFE Chapter, sent me the following note and asked me to pass it
along.
NARFE (Federal Retirees
Organization) has been pushing this change for several years. They
suggest that each of us write, call, e-mail (or all three) our
Senators and Representatives to encourage them to support the
change, ie pass the bill. About half the Senate and over half the
House are in favor. The problem is the Ways and Means Committee of
the House, and the parallel group of the Senate. Write them also.
Every bit of mail helps, and tons of mail do have an effect.
Stan Faber, treasurer of both NAL
and NARFE local chapters.
9. There has been no change in the
status of our NSL badges from the info I sent you last month. I have
heard that because of issues they are having to deal with, that the
implementation of any new badging system will be well after the
first of the year. So our badges will continue to be issued and will
be valid until JSC makes a change. I'll keep you posted.
10. Many of you have asked about
purchasing the 50th anniversary of NASA commemorative tee shirts
that NASA is commisioning. I have checked with NASA and they tell me
that retirees are welcome to purchase these shirts. I am attaching
the information for those who would like to purchase a shirt(s).