After the end of World War II, there was still a certain amount of competition between America and Russia, which, among other things, to the great technological boom in the field of missile research, apparently thanks to the programs that operated in defeated Nazi Germany. Let us briefly recall Verner von Braun and his team, who were brought to America at the end of the war through the American operation Paper Clip and thus stood at the birth of the American space program.

It must be said that it took a lot of courage and creative potential for many thousands of people to make things work for the universe to succeed, and for those who eventually stood in the light of the ramps to be able to look successfully. not only into space (Mercury and Gemini programs) but also subsequently to the Moon (Apollo program).

We bring you a series of exclusive interviews with a man who was part of that great journey to the moon, and although he was not exactly the one who would have the opportunity to travel into space, he was a great benefit for those who trained to land on the moon (the most famous Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin).

(20.11.2016) Hi Ken, I'm so glad we were able to meet via facebook and make this special conversation. I perceive it with great respect. I would very much like to introduce you to the Czech and Slovak public, which is interested in exopolitics.

Q: Could you please tell us something about yourself? Your name where you were born and grew up and what was on your way before it became a part of the space program at all.

A: When I talk to children, there is always someone who asks, "How did you become an astronaut?" And I always tell them that the first thing they have to do is, "Be born!" :) And then they start telling them a short story about how it happened.

I was born in 1942 at the US Army Air Corps Hospital (Fort Sam Houston, Texas) as the third son of Captain Abrham Russell Johnston and Roberta White. (Just a small note aside about my mother. She was expecting a baby girl. :)) My dad was a pilot during World War II. World War II, during which he unfortunately died. The only picture I have left of him is when he was photographed as a USAAC (US Army Air Corps) military pilot. My dream was to be like him and become a pilot.

When my father died, we moved to Plainview, Texas, where I lived until I was 4 years old. My mom married another soldier - the USMC (US Marine Corps) captain. His name was Captain Roger Wolmaldorf. He died two years later of an infection he received during the service in Guadalcanal. Not long after that, my mom met US Army Staff Sargent TC Ray. We moved with him to the small town of Hart, Texas. I grew up there and went to primary school. At that time, one of my older brothers Jimmy Charles Johnston died. He was killed at Hay Ride School.

The next year, my mom helped me get to the Oklahoma Military Academy (OMA), which is in Claremore, Oklahoma. It was at OMA where I learned the discipline and how to achieve the goals I set.

When I reached military rank captain (just like my father). When I was second year at OMA, I attended Oklahoma City University Summer School. One evening, my best friend (Captain Jack Lancaster) came to my college and said, "Guess what? I signed up to United States Marine Corps. " My first reaction was, “Are you saying hell? I'll go there with you! ”The next day I enlisted at the USMC. We went from the extended Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) to the USMC Buck Privates at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD) based in San Diego, California. That was in August 1962. It was not long after we discovered that if we went to another service sector, we could skip two rank levels and become Lance Corporals (E-3).

Jack and I went to Memphis, Tennessee, where we became avionics technicians. After that we were moved to the US Marine Corps Air Station in El Toro, located a short distance from Santa Anna, California. I wanted to fly.

Q: So you're saying you were an Army aviator? Flying is definitely an amazing thing! People who do such work must be very smart and responsible. What were you flying at that time and how would you characterize yourself at that time? What tasks did you have to solve at that time as an aviator?

Not long after we were moved, our commanding officer asked me if I wanted to be a military pilot! He said: You have IQ and good education, so you should handle it. And I said, "Well, sure! My dad was a pilot, and this was always my dream! " I filled out all the papers and filed a request for an air training course in Pensacola (Florida) and I was accepted !!! I was finally on my way to become a pilot like my dad.

Holloman AFB F-4 Phantom II

After two years of pilot training, when I started training on jets, the soldiers took us out of the program and assigned us to helicopter training. I didn't want to be a helicopter pilot. I wanted solid wings. At my own request, I was reassigned to the rank of non-commissioned officer as an electrician in El Toro.

When I was in pilot training, the fastest plane I could fly was the F-4 Phantom. It could fly faster than Mach 2. (2x faster than the speed of sound.) In 1965, it was the fastest plane in the sky!

I flew at the El Toro Aviation Club, where I obtained a (FAA) multi-engine pilot's license and a pilot's instructor.

Q: In 1966, you left the US Marines. What led you to that decision? Did you know what your next steps will be?

After completing my military service, I accepted my honorary release and moved to Houston, Texas, where my brother Dr. AR Johnston worked for NASA as a design engineer for SESL (Space Environmental Simulation Laboratory). SESL has the largest vacuum chamber in the world.

Q: You worked for Grumman Aircraft. Can we imagine the company you worked for? What was her job and what role she played against NASA?

My brother AR told me to go to NASA / MSC (Man Spacecraft Center, later renamed Johnson Space Center), where many aerospace and astronautics companies worked for the Apollo program. I wrote a request to the five largest companies and they all gave me an offer. I chose a job for Grumman Aerospace Corporation. I became the first of four civilian astronauts - consultants for pilots !!! This meant that we tested the Lunar Module (LM) in a SESL vacuum chamber and then assisted the training of real NASA astronauts as they learned to control the LM.

Q: How do you become a civilian astronaut pilot consultant and what was your job?

At that time, the government was looking for almost anyone who would be willing to work for any space company, because they knew that once the Apollo program ended, once we landed on the moon, everyone would be out of work - the project would end.

It's been my dream since childhood when I watched the Flash movies Gordon and Buck Rogers. I knew that one day I would become an astronaut !!!

So when I applied for a job at Grumman Aircraft, I had exactly the experience they needed. I was a pilot and knew electronics. I guess you would say: "At the right time in the right place" !!!

My job was to work every day face to face with NASA astronauts in the lunar module (LM).

Q: You are right that it was certainly very lucky that it came together. You worked on the Lunar Lander LTA-8 - what can you imagine under it? Are there any photos? Or what to compare it to?

LTA-8 was essentially the first full-fledged Lunar Module. He would be able to land on the moon if we didn't need him to test all the systems in the vacuum chamber to make sure he could do his job. Of course, it also worked as a simulator for astronauts who were selected to fly to the moon. LTA-8 is currently the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC

Q: So he was part of the Apollo program. Does that mean you met future astronauts? Can you tell who they were? And how often did you meet?

My favorite astronaut was Jim Irwin. We spent together more than 1000 hours in LM when we tested in a vacuum chamber. John Swigert and I became very good friends. He later helped us with our LTA-8 testing.

Later, I had the honor of working with people like Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Fred Haise, Jim Lovel, Ken Mattingly, Harrison Schmitt, Charlie Duke, and actually everyone who flew to the moon. I remember that in LM there were more than 286 different switches, settings and circuit breakers. Today, it seems almost unbelievable to me know about each of them, what they are used for and how they work.

Unfortunately, most of the Apollo astronauts have long since died. (Edgar Mitchell left 2016.) Last time, when we all met together, 10 was celebrated. the anniversary of landing on the moon. The only thing I've seen in the last 5 years was Buzz Aldrin and Dr. Harrison Schmidt.

Q: That's great! In another interview, I saw that you also have a personal dedication from some of them. It is so?

Yes it's right. I have letters of recommendation from Neil Armstrong, John Swigert and Jim Irwin to become one of NASA astronauts instead of just one civilian astronaut - a pilot consultant at Grumman. This was then during a tender in the 70s.

The only reason they didn't select me then was because the government intervened in the astronaut competition. They demanded that they be PhD scientists, not just "Jet Jocks," as they told us.

Q: How do you actually remember this period? It must have been very special to be part of something so special. Can you think of any interesting things from that time that would be worth remembering?

What I remember most was that we all wanted to meet the goal set by President Kennedy (JFK) - to fly to the moon and return home safely to Earth before the end of the decade. We worked 12 to 14 hours a day, 7 days a week when needed. The government has ordered us at least one leave in two weeks because one technician died in Grumman from lack of rest - he worked his way up.

Q: I recall an interview with one of the Mercury project astronauts, Gordon Cooper, who mentioned that when he flew, he saw unknown objects several times - lights that followed his ship. Did you have the opportunity to meet him in person?

No, I didn't have a chance to talk to Gordon. In fact, there was no opportunity to talk to any of the astronauts after returning from the moon. They traveled the world and told their story. Recently, I've noticed that some of the Apollo astronauts are coming to the public with their stories of the possibility that they may have seen UFOs during their space flights. Just last year, Buzz Aldrin came up with his story of seeing a light or an unknown vessel that followed their Apollo 11 all the way to the moon. Gordon Cooper mentioned it and Edgar Mitchell came out openly just before his death.

Q: Recall that the Apollo project was preceded by the Mercury (single-passenger ships) and Gemini (two-member crews) projects. Did you have the opportunity to meet another pilot from these programs and talk to them about their experiences and experiences?

Only with Jack Swigert and Jim Irwin. We all had to sign a confidentiality statement before we were given permission top secret (Top Secret Clerance). Unfortunately, most of the people who were in the position of those who could say anything about their special experiences had already died. They took their secrets with them.

Q: Let's go back to your work as a civilian astronaut consultant pilot and the Apollo project to which your work belonged. He wanted to remind you that the Apollo project started infamously. Unfortunately, astronauts were burned at the launch in January 1967 as part of the Apollo 1 mission. Did you know them? If so, can you tell us something about them?

Yes, I met them during astronaut training in Grumman. They followed our team with a 4-member team. As I said before, all the astronauts were played hard to fulfill their mission, but when they had some time off to relax, they were a lot of fun.

A good example could be when in one of the first training sessions I attended with future NASA astronauts. One of the contractors sent one of their most experienced scientists to teach the class (future astronauts). After about 30 minutes, astronaut Donald Slayton (director of the astronaut corps) came to the class and interrupted the instructor. He asked him to leave the room. Then we all discussed whether we felt that the professor would be able to teach us what we needed. The instructor was invited back and told that the lesson was over and that his company should send someone who knows how to teach and not make up. Since then, every instructor who came to teach us his subject started his lecture: “If at any time during my presentation you feel that I am teaching something you don't need to fly a spacecraft, please let us know and we will deliver someone else that will give you the information you need. ”WOW! After all, we needed them to understand how everything worked together because our lives depended on it. This is still the practice among flight instructors and pilots (students.

Q: I mention the case because even if there is an official incident report, there are still people who have doubts about what actually happened. Did you hear anything about it?

Personally, I am glad that I have no first-hand experience of the Apollo 1 fire. I know it has taken us all back at least one year in fulfilling the plan given to us by President Kennedy (JFK). But we learned a lot from that tragedy. It helped us make flights much safer. (I'm not mentioning shuttle disasters where I have some knowledge…)

Q: I can think of hundreds of other questions I would like to ask you. I will be very happy if we continue our conversation next time and focus more on your work during the Apollo project and especially what happened after that. Is there anything you would like to mention at the end? Maybe a topic worth talking about?

I would like to ask anyone who has first-hand information about anything related to space programs in any country, to make this information public and told his story before it is too late. When you die, your knowledge will die with you. Do it now!

We are at the beginning of something that can be called Soft Disclosure (light revelation), and it is the beginning of the truth about what we have seen in the universe - on the Moon and on Mars - that has come to light. Now is the right time: "The truth will set you free!".

Sueneé: Thank you, Ken, for your time. I look forward to another conversation with you. :)

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