Аннотация: James Smith McDonnell, "Mercury", "Gemini" and "Apollo". A historical and biographical note.
James Smith McDonnell, 'Mercury', 'Gemini' and 'Apollo'. A historical and biographical note.
James Smith McDonnell (1899 - 1980) is one of the major figures in the history of the American aerospace industry.
He was an engineer by profession. He received an excellent education.
He is mainly known not for outstanding aircraft models, not for long and dangerous flights, but for the creation of the highly efficient McDonnell Aircraft Corporation.
On October 4, 1957, the first satellite was launched, on April 12, 1961, the first manned flight into space was performed, and on May 25, 1961, US President John F. Kennedy set the task of landing a man on the Moon (with a safe return to Earth) before the end of the decade.
To accomplish this task, it was required to acquire a huge amount of experience, master unique technologies, and test new algorithms.
The general path to the goal - the landing of a man on the Moon - was presented in the form of three increasingly complex programs: "Mercury", "Gemini", "Apollo".
With a huge number of difficulties and a very high level of risk, both the progressive implementation of tasks within the framework of each of these three projects and the sequential transition from one project to another, to the next, more complex one, were ensured.
The contribution of McDonnell Aircraft Corporation to the implementation of the Mercury and Gemini projects is considered particularly significant. (Project "Mercury" can be roughly compared with projects of suborbital flights, project "Gemini" - with flights with a man on board a spacecraft in low-earth orbit, project "Apollo" - circling the Moon and landing a man on the Moon).
In a historically short time, the task was achieved - for the first time people reached the surface of the Moon. The US Apollo 11 was the first manned mission in which a man landed on the moon (July 20, 1969). In the period from 1969 to 1972, six US missions with a human visit to the lunar surface were carried out.
For a time, the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation emblem depicted the Mercury capsule orbiting the Earth.
In 1967, McDonnell Aircraft merged with the Douglas Aircraft Company to create the McDonnell Douglas.
James Smith McDonnell was succeeded as chairman of McDonnell Douglas by his nephew Sanford N. McDonnell (in 1980).
McDonnell died of a stroke on August 22, 1980.
McDonnell Douglas would later merge with Boeing (in August 1997).
McDonnell Aircraft Corporation played one of main roles in landing the first man on the Moon ("before the end of the decade").
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July 22, 2021 07:00
Translation from Russian into English: July 22, 2021 07:38.
Владимир Владимирович Залесский 'Джеймс Смит МакДоннелл, 'Меркурий', 'Джемини' и 'Аполлон'. Историко-биографическая заметка'.