Apollo 11 There were slide rules instead of calculators for the engineers

It's not the generation, it's the government. They dropped all R&D and funding. Now there is another capsule in work which is basically an updated version of the Apollo days that is to be used for deep space travel. They are hoping to get back the moon. I worked on the Space Shuttle for ten years and my brother did it for thirty. Everyone called it the "Space Truck" because that's basically all it was.

Because of The Constitution which defines the government as being derived from the people, it's a fairly fine distinction between the generation and the government. Historically the US was able to challenge itself with national projects that were enormous in scope. The space program was one. The shuttle program was another. I salute you and your brother for being part of the cutting edge. Perhaps the Orion project will bring back that sense of national effort. I hope so. :)

The people really had nothing to do with the shutdown. We had maxed out our potential at the time, the government saw no further gains and saw it as a waste of money. The sad part was letting Space Lab fall back to earth. We had to do it all over again at a higher cost. Luckily it was a joint venture with other countries. I'm hoping to be re-employed when Orion starts up. I used to do a lot with the boosters being used. They are basically the same as the Shuttle but employ one more segment. Orion's are five where the Shuttles were four. I apply for the few positions that pop up once in a while for Space X, Boeing, Jacobs Engineering (Orion) and one other I can't remember but since they are now private they basically hire friends and family. It's sad. There are literally thousands of us former employees here that don't get hired. Thanks for the salute. It was a fun, interesting job.

Do you still have a federal employee status?

No. I've been out of the space business since 1998. I moved away back then but after my divorce a couple years ago I moved back to the Space Coast area.

That's awesome.

Let me Google that.

LOL

At a metal shop I used to work at I made parts for Esco. They monitor dishwallas and other space debris. Sorry if I ask a lot of questions. I find this stuff interesting. Did you have a security clearance?

They all had black framed glasses too, not contacts!