On the 50th anniversary of our landing men on the moon, I am fortunate to be able to reflect on my participation in that effort. The group I was working with were developing a telescope to fly on Apollo and look at the Sun's corona or outer atmosphere. As we were beginning to develop the telescope, NASA decided to build a space station and fly our telescope on it. This meant we could build a much larger telescope than originally planned. It would fly on Skylab, man's first space station, as part of the Apollo telescope mount; a group of solar observing telescopes. Our group built, tested, operated, and analyzed the data from this telescope. Several other groups built other telescopes to study other aspects of the Sun's atmosphere. Working on this project that was associated with the moon-landing program was extremely exciting for a young scientist.

Preparing for the launch was quite an experience. Building and testing the telescope before launch was perhaps typical of preparing any new telescope. However, we made frequent trips to Houston to work with the astronauts to brief them on how to operate the telescope and help them understand what they were going to do, the science behind the work. We also worked in mission control so we could understand the operation of a manned mission. During the mission, we scientists would have our room next to the mission control room to be able to work closely with everyone.

The year before launch, which was planned for 1972, we worked very closely with the same people who put men on the moon. What I will never forget is the attitudes of the people. These ordinary people who went for the challenge to do something extraordinary. They were very professional and had an intense desire to get things done right. They were very proud of their work.

After several delays and after the last moon mission we were ready to launch Skylab. Most of us went to the Cape to watch the launch. The Saturn V rocket was impressive. The 3 stages sent a man to the moon. For Skylab, the third stage was the space station where astronauts would live and work. The launch was an unforgettable experience. From the official viewing area, we could hear the countdown and see the rocket ignition. The sound of this powerful rocket was overwhelming. The earth shook. The sight and sound of the launch was something I will never forget.

Shortly after the launch, we got some devastating news. The heat shield and one of the solar panels had gotten tangled up during deployment. This meant that we only had half the power, and the space station would get too hot. It looked like the mission was doomed.

Again, NASA engineers stepped up to the challenge. They figured out how they could replace the damaged heat shield with an "umbrella" and operate with the damaged power system. With some delay, the mission was back. The astronauts were launched to the space station where they could make the necessary repairs and save the mission.

During the mission, I worked with other scientists and people in mission control to optimize the mission. The data we got was spectacular even though it was on photographic film. Its quality was not surpassed until another mission I got to work on in the 1990s.

The positive energy all around us concerning working on this program was something I will always cherish.