Kirkland Aerospace is an American aeronautics company based in Rockford, Illinois.
History[]
In early 1973, Kirkland received a big NASA contract for their Apollo program, manufactering parts for the program's launch vehicle, the Saturn V.[1]
On August 24, 1974, the Saturn V of Apollo 23 exploded on its launch pad at Cape Kennedy, killing 12 NASA ground crew, including Gene Kranz, former flight director and new director of the Johnson Space Center. First investigations indicated, that the explosion was caused by a LH2 fill-drain valve of the rocket's second stage, which was leaking due to metal fatique. A second and more thorough analysis of the entire Saturn program, ordered by the board of inquiry and issued by former NASA director and Saturn rocket chief designer Wernher von Braun then further revealed, that a change in the supply chain of NASA's contractors and subcontractors had happened at the beginning of 1973, right after the new administration of Ted Kennedy had taken over. Von Braun found out, that the malfunctioning valve was manufactured by Kirkland Aerospace, while he had given that contract to a company in Colorado Springs in the mid 60s. He concluded, that the reason to change the contractor and give the huge and lucrative order to a Illinois company was that the new US administration needed the support of that state's governor, Richard Ogilvie, for passing their Equal Rights Amendment. Kirkland is based in a key district that governor needed for his re-election. [1]
After the explosion of Apollo 23, production of Saturn V was halted, including all its suppliers. At Kirkland, the whole Saturn V team was replaced. One of the engineers working at the project at that time was Dev Ayesa's father. When his team was replaced after the incident, he lost his job at Kirkland, something he never recovered from.[2]
See also[]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 For All Mankind TV series, season 1, episode 6, "Home Again"
- ↑ For All Mankind TV series, season 3, episode 8, "The Sands of Ares"