The Apollo Training Team

Welcome to

Apollo Training Team . Com

50th Anniversary Edition

ApolloTrainingTeam.Com

a space history website

Hugh W. McNeese

Supervisor & Team

Leader

The Apollo Training Program was designed to provide an integrated training program for the flight crew, controllers, launch operations, and NASA and contractor engineering personnel.

The same Apollo Engineering Instructors provided the training programs to each group of students. This resulted in total continuity of spacecraft systems information being presented throughout the program. The instructor engineers were among the most knowledgeable personnel on the Apollo Spacecraft systems functions and operation. Their ability to communicate this knowledge to others was second to none. As part of their preparation for subsequent flights, they monitored each flight from launch, Mission

Control Operations, and the actual flights through splashdown and recovery via audio and closed-circuit television.The differences between each spacecraft system, system operations and procedures were tabulated and presented to those personnel assigned to that flight.

There were no gaps in information, no dated information, nor any misinformation presented in this training program.

It should be noted that the F.A.A. requested that they be permitted to use Apollo Training's testing procedures and evaluation in their program. Permission was given of course.

7. Actual hardware used in demonstrations

8."Dry Run" (practice) presentations

Note: Apollo Training introduced the "dry run" to the entire Apollo program. Others gradually adopted it until it became a common practice

Welcome to Our Site !

Webmaster note:

This is a private and independent website, and as such, was prepared with the consent of participating team members only who provided personal data to proudly support Internet publication of their participation in the Apollo Missions

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The Apollo Training Team

Don Bennet

Stabilization

Control Systems

Thoral Gilland

Sequential

Systems

William (Bill) Greene

Propulsion

Systems

Clyde Steele

Environmental Control 'Carry On ' GSE

Alfred (Al) Sohler

Guidance &

Navigation

Gary Steinbeck

Telecommunications

Leonard Urbaniak

Electrical Power

John Winton

Lead Instructor

S/C Systems

Digital Acceptance

GSE

TRAINING PROGRAM EVOLUTION

During the early years of the 1960's, the Space & Information Systems Division (S&ID) of North American Aviation in Downey, California, (prime contractor for the Apollo Spacecraft), engaged in a massive recruiting effort.

One support task was the preparation and presentation of systems & mission training briefings for the customer (NASA) personnel during all program phases.

The plan was to provide an accelerated training program as the systems were developed, in order to meet the demands of the space race to the moon.

Instructors were selected from the most skilled and experienced personnel available on the job market. Only those personnel having a high degree of related background experience from the aerospace community were considered.

Candidate instructors were assigned subject tasks and were given "wire brush" auditions before being considered for a member of the training team.

Dry runs of a particular briefing were conducted by key personnel to ascertain that objective material was presented, and with a high degree of professionalism.

After meeting these criteria, briefings were scheduled for the customer. A course critique system was also established for the customer to provide feedback on both the material and presentation.

Our target student population included the astronauts, flight simulation and control personnel at Houston and launch operations personnel in Florida. Other familiarization briefings were presented for administrative ,clerical and support staff of the NASA Contractor and sub-contractor orginazations.

Our Instructors prepared Handout and training material, along with Programmened Instruction Text books for the Flight Control Division of the NASA

Video Tape Recordings of each system and acceptance checkout equipment were made in the TV studios at Downey, CA. and Houston, TX (JSC ).

Our Team worked with the Russian Cosmonauts in preparation for the Apollo Soyuz Test program (ASTP )

William (Bill) Ruffin

Guidance

Navigation

Lunar Missions

Apollo Soyuz

Apollo SkyLab

In Memorium

During the phase out period of the training program, and following downsizing of our staff, remaining members supported the SkyLab program with tailored briefings to address in space fault isolation objectives and contingency moding.

Willard "Will" Waddell

Sequential Systems