Morgan Watson facts for kids

Morgan M. Watson (born November 25, 1943) is an American engineer and a professor at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He is famous for being one of the first African American engineers to work at NASA in the southern United States. He helped with the Apollo 11 mission, which was the first time humans landed on the Moon.

Early Life and Education

Morgan Watson grew up in St. Joseph, Louisiana. His family had worked for generations picking cotton in the fields. Even as a young boy, Morgan loved to take things apart and then put them back together. This was a hint about his future job as an engineer.

When he was a teenager, he worked in a hardware store. His boss noticed that Morgan was very good at mathematics and science. The boss told him he would make a great engineer. Morgan didn't know much about engineers then, so he went to the library to learn more. He also became very interested in space.

Morgan decided to study engineering at Southern University. This is a historically black university in Baton Rouge.

Challenging Barriers

Morgan Watson also helped change things early in his life. In 1956, he found out that no black people had voted in his county's presidential election. When he and a friend turned eighteen, they decided to register to vote.

At that time, some southern states made it hard for black people to vote. They used things like poll taxes (money you had to pay to vote) and literacy tests (reading tests). Morgan and his friend easily passed the written test. They became the first two black voters in their county.

Career at NASA

Joining NASA

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy made a rule that federal agencies, like NASA, could not treat people differently because of their race. At this time, NASA was growing in southern states. These areas were important in the fight for civil liberties (equal rights).

President Kennedy's rule created new job chances for African Americans in the South. NASA started a special program for students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Students would study for one semester and then work for one semester at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC).

Morgan Watson was one of the best engineering students at Southern University. He and six other young men took special exams to join the program. White students did not have to take these tests. In January 1964, Morgan and his friends started working in Huntsville, Alabama. They were NASA's first African American engineers in the South. Morgan later said, "We felt that the whole image of Black people was riding on us."

Working on Space Missions

Morgan Watson started in the Quality Assurance Laboratory at NASA. He tested parts of the space capsule, like wires and screws. He made sure they would work well in space. He also learned a lot about engines.

With his new skills, he began working in a propulsion lab. Here, he tested the Saturn IB rocket. He also helped create the heat shield for the rocket. This shield stops the rocket from getting too hot and exploding.

In 1966, he moved to New Orleans. He worked at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility. There, he focused on the thermodynamics (how heat moves) of the Saturn V rocket. This powerful rocket later sent Apollo 11 to the Moon. He continued this work when he moved to Huntington Beach, California.

Morgan Watson also helped NASA with computers. He had taken the first computer programming class at Southern University. He used computer code to make some of his tasks easier. He even taught older NASA employees how to use computers in their work.

Current Work

In 1968, Morgan Watson went back to Louisiana. He became a professor at Southern University, teaching thermodynamics. He also started his own company, Minority Engineers of Louisiana. This was the first engineering company in the Deep South run by a Black person.

In 2016, Southern University gave Morgan Watson the President's Medal of Honor. In July 2019, on the 50th anniversary of the Apollo Moon landing, he shared how proud he was of his work. He thanked Southern University for helping him become a "bridge over troubled water" for Black students.