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RUSSELL LARSON |
Russell A. Larson; engineer had role in Apollo 11 project
Two Apollo 11 astronauts were about to become the first people to land on the moon when a red light flashed in Houston’s mission control center, warning that something was amiss in their onboard guidance computer.
Engineers and scientists present at that moment 40 years ago this week quickly assessed the danger as they decided whether to scrap the landing. One man said go, and Russell A. Larson of MIT’s Instrumentation Laboratory memorably flashed a thumbs-up, saying afterward that he was too nervous to voice his approval. Minutes later, the astronauts landed and stepped from the landing module into history.
“Russ was one of the people who made the decision that the alarm was not that important and we could continue,’’ said Norman Sears, a group leader on the first Apollo lunar landing who was at mission control as the scene unfolded.
A “vintage-type engineer’’ who Sears recalled as someone who “loved a challenge of any kind,’’ Mr. Larson had from childhood shown an aptitude for achieving things that seemed mechanically unachievable. He died Tuesday, the day after the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 touchdown on the moon, at Kaplan Family Hospice House in Danvers. Mr. Larson was 77 and had lived for many years in Boxford.
“Russ was a very dedicated person,’’ said Bruce McCoy of San Diego, who was an onsite representative from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at the Houston Manned Spacecraft Center in 1969 when the first moon landing occurred. McCoy’s shift began just after the landing, so “when I came in, everybody was telling me about what happened and the issues we were still trying to resolve.’’
In mission control, Mr. Larson was among those who realized that the red warning light indicated the onboard guidance system “was overloaded in doing what it was asked to do,’’ Sears said. Nevertheless, Sears added, what the computer “put aside was not crucial to the mission.’’
Though Mr. Larson was so speechless at the moment that he resorted to a thumbs-up, his was a voice trusted by engineers and astronauts alike.
As part of his duties helping lead the project developing the guidance computer for the moon landing craft, “he dealt with the astronauts as the MIT-Draper Lab representative for the lunar module crews . . . and explained how their guidance system worked. If they had a question, he was the point man.’’
That working relationship formed a tight bond between the engineer and the Apollo crews.
“He was a person who was so close to the astronauts that he could ask them for things and they would do it, and they would ask him for things and he would do it,’’ McCoy said.
Born in Stillwater, Minn., Mr. Larson was one of seven children and used money he earned from his paper route to buy electric trains, which became a lifelong hobby. Even as a child, he loved electronics and anything mechanical.
“One time he put a motor on a bicycle and put it out on the highway,’’ said his wife, Delores, “and he got a ticket for not having a license.’’
A photographer who developed his own film, black and white or color, Mr. Larson earned much of the money to pay his way through Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn., by shooting photos for the school, where with a friend he also put together the electronics to launch a college radio station.
He graduated with a double major in mathematics and physics, then served in the US Naval Reserve, stationed in Shelburne, Nova Scotia.
Having spotted Delores Nelson in Minnesota one day wearing a Gustavus Adolphus College sweatshirt, he went over to say hello. The couple married in 1957.
After finishing his Navy commitment, Mr. Nelson worked for the A.C. Spark Plug division of
A few years later, he switched to MIT’s payroll, and the lab later broke off as the independent Draper Laboratory.
Bringing his technical skills home to Boxford, Mr. Larson constructed a work area and darkroom in the basement of his family’s house.
“One of my fondest memories growing up was skating behind the house,’’ said his daughter, Kari Boucher of Hampstead, N.H. “He built a machine to flood the pond for us to make sure we could skate.’’
He also occasionally brought home films shot by astronauts on missions, which the Larsons showed in neighborhood gatherings in the family’s living room.
“I think he was a very dedicated father, but he was also very dedicated to his work, and he was always pushing my sister and I to achieve our best,’’ said his other daughter, Roxanne Saunders of Rowley. “One of the things he instilled in us came from the space program, which is that something isn’t worth doing if you’re not going to do it right or give it your best effort.’’
In addition to his wife and two daughters, Mr. Larson leaves three sisters, Doris Fehr of Eau Claire, Wis., Janet Grove of Glen Arms, Md., and Marcia Kalarites of Tyngsborough; a brother, Melvin of Rochester, Minn.; and six grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. tomorrow at Faith Lutheran Church in Andover.
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
