John Houbolt facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
John Houbolt
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John Houbolt explains Lunar orbit rendezvous
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John Cornelius Houbolt
April 10, 1919 Altoona, Iowa, U.S.
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| Died | April 15, 2014 (aged 95) Scarborough, Maine, U.S.
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| Alma mater | University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, ETH Zurich |
| Awards | NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal, 1963 |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Aerospace engineering |
| Institutions | National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics National Aeronautics and Space Administration Langley Research Center |
John Cornelius Houbolt (born April 10, 1919 – died April 15, 2014) was a brilliant aerospace engineer. He is famous for leading the team that came up with the idea of "lunar orbit rendezvous" (LOR). This clever plan was used to successfully land astronauts on the Moon and bring them back home.
The LOR idea was first supported by Wernher von Braun in June 1961. It was then chosen for the Apollo program in early 1962. This important decision helped make sure that humans could reach the Moon by the end of the 1960s, as President John F. Kennedy had hoped. Using LOR saved a lot of time and money because it used existing rocket technology in a very smart way.
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Life Story
John Houbolt was born in Altoona, Iowa, in 1919. He spent some of his childhood in Joliet, Illinois. There, he went to Joliet Central High School and Joliet Junior College.
He studied at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. He earned his first degree in civil engineering in 1940 and a master's degree in 1942. Later, in 1957, he received a PhD in Technical Sciences from ETH Zurich in Switzerland.
John Houbolt started his career in 1942 at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). When NASA took over from NACA, he continued to work there until he retired in 1985.
He worked as an engineer at the Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. He was one of the few engineers who strongly believed in and supported the LOR idea in 1961 and 1962. Once LOR was chosen in 1962, many other parts of the Moon mission were designed based on this key decision. John Houbolt was even a special guest at Mission Control when the Apollo 11 mission successfully landed on the Moon.
In his later years, he lived in Scarborough, Maine. He passed away in 2014 from Parkinson's disease.
Awards and Honors
John Houbolt received the NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal in 1963 for his important work. He was also a member of the National Academy of Engineering, which is a very high honor for engineers.
On May 15, 2005, he was given an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His important papers and documents are kept in the University of Illinois Archives.
In 2009, the Illinois House of Representatives honored him with a special resolution. The city of Joliet also remembers him:
- A street in front of Joliet Junior College, which he attended, was renamed Houbolt Road.
- A mural in Joliet Union Station includes a Lunar Module, showing his work for NASA.
- A part of the Joliet Area Historical Museum has a permanent exhibit celebrating his achievements.
Lunar Orbit Rendezvous (LOR)
The basic idea of lunar orbit rendezvous (LOR) had been thought of a long time ago. Yuri Kondratyuk mentioned it in 1916, and German rocket pioneer Hermann Oberth in 1923. However, NASA was the first to actually use this idea in a practical way.
Some engineers were worried about the dangers of meeting up with another spacecraft in space, especially in orbit around the Moon. If something went wrong there, there would be no easy way to fix it. John Houbolt presented the LOR idea to many different groups and panels.
After many meetings and debates about different ways to go to the Moon, like "Direct Ascent" (flying straight to the Moon) and "Earth Orbit Rendezvous" (meeting in Earth's orbit), Wernher von Braun finally supported the LOR concept. This was a huge step forward for the Apollo missions.
Famous Quotes
John Houbolt was very determined about his LOR idea. Here are some of his famous words:
- Somewhat as a voice in the wilderness, I would like to pass on a few thoughts. (He felt like he was one of the only ones pushing for LOR at first.)
- Do we want to go to the moon or not? (He wrote this in a letter in 1961 to Robert Seamans, a NASA leader, showing his urgency.)
- Thank you, John.—Wernher von Braun said this to Houbolt when Apollo 11 successfully landed on the Moon. This moment was captured on a NASA film at Mission Control. It shows how important Houbolt's work was. If he hadn't pushed so hard for the LOR idea, it might not have been possible to land on the Moon by President Kennedy's 1970 deadline. Von Braun knew this and personally invited Houbolt to the control center to watch the historic landing.
Images for kids
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Certificate from NASA
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LOR explained by Houbolt
See also
In Spanish: John C. Houbolt para niños
