Murphy Wardman, 37 Year Atlas-Centaur Rocket Veteran – ASM Interview on YouTube
To watch on YouTube, visit our “Space Worker Oral Histories“ and look for Murphy Wardman.
On Oct 1st, 2020 American Space Museum interviewed Murphy Wardman, the Lead Electrical Engineer for General Dynamics on the Atlas-Centaur rocket program from 1958 – 1995. In the early days, things were a little more “informal” and experimental. Murphy tells stories including…
- Putting together Heathkit power supply kits since they were on such a tight budget.
- Top secret Project Score (Signal Communication by Orbiting RElay) where a tape recorded Christmas greeting from President Eisenhower was put onboard a missle in 1958. It was secret until they started transmitting to surprise the Soviet Union that the U.S. could launch such a large payload into orbit.
- How the Test Conductor once had someone “accidentally” (using a little spit) make sure no-one knew he hit the reset button.
- And other stories
Currently retired, Murphy has been a dedicated volunteer at the American Space Museum for about 20 years. He arranged for the Air Force to donate consoles from the control center in the Complex 36 blockhouse which launched the Atlas-Centaur rockets. He wired them up for hands-on interactive display at the museum. He also was a major contributor to the Space Walk of Fame Monuments and the “Space Map”.
Moderated by Mark Marquette, this interview is part of our museum’s “Stay Curious” series and our “Space Worker Oral Histories” project.