John Tribe, 43 Year Space Program Veteran: ASM Interview on YouTube

To watch on YouTube, visit our “Space Worker Oral Histories“ and look for John Tribe.

On Aug 13th, 2020 American Space Museum interviewed 43 Year Space Program Veteran John Tribe. A hypergolic propellant expert and cryogenic rocket engine specialist, Apollo and Space Shuttle engineer John Tribe tells us his fascinating story starting with his first exposure to rockets in England during World War II. He later came to the U.S. and stayed.

He shares many interesting insights about his work on both Apollo and Space Shuttle and about today’s private rocket business. He looks back at the NASA Moon program from the Apollo 1 fire to Apollo 11’s triumph. Tribe’s area of expertise was the Apollo Command and Service Module’s hypergolic propulsion systems and he will share how those dangerous propellants were used for Apollo and Shuttle, just like today on the SpaceX Crew Dragon.

John worked in aerospace from 1954 to 1997 and continues as a NASA docent today. He worked primarily for the NASA contractor North American Aviation/Rockwell/Boeing and retired as their Chief Engineer on the Shuttle Orbiter at Kennedy Space Center.

Moderated by Mark Marquette, this interview is part of our museum’s “Stay Curious” series and our “Space Worker Oral Histories” project.