“The people conducting the Orion programme are much more technically capable than we were back in the Apollo and shuttle days” (Image: NASA)

NASA called on aerospace engineer Owen Morris to consult on its latest spacecraft – he’s also dreaming of a space station on the far side of the moon

What inspired you to get into space travel?

I’ve been interested in things that fly since I was a kid. I got degrees in aerospace engineering, applied to NASA and stayed there for my entire career.

What did you work on at NASA?

During Apollo, when we started the lunar module project, I was the chief engineer. Later, I managed the entire Apollo spacecraft programme. In the shuttle programme, I was manager of systems integration and systems engineering.


NASA summoned you back as a consultant on their next spacecraft, Orion. Why did they call on you?

NASA has not developed a big new vehicle since the shuttle. Most of the people that worked on the shuttle are now retired, so those starting the Orion programme didn’t have the shuttle people to advise them. That’s what I’ve been trying to help a bit on.

Does it matter that NASA lacks recent experience in designing a spaceship?

With the tools they have now, the people conducting the Orion programme are much more technically capable than we were back in the Apollo and shuttle days. For example, we knew what the aerodynamics equations for Apollo were, but we could not solve them in any detail with the computers we had at the time. Now they can.

No human has left low Earth orbit for more than 40 years. Where can Orion take us?

The big capability of Orion and its rocket, the Space Launch System, will be to let us do things in deeper space again. It’s good for trips that would last three weeks or so, depending on the size of the crew or the details of the mission. You can go to a captured asteroid. To get to Mars, however, you would need a habitation module in addition to Orion, because of the duration of the trip.

If it were up to you, where would you send future astronaut missions?

It’s not in the present space programme, but I would like to establish a space station on the far side of the moon. At that location you’re shielded from a lot of radio interference originating on Earth, so it would be good for radio astronomy.

Looking back, what is your most vivid memory of your career at NASA?

The one that always comes to mind is Apollo 13. The service module exploded on the way to the moon, so the lunar module basically had to support the crew all the way to and around the moon. We had to use it to do things it had never done before. I was at NASA for about 85 hours straight. It was a very exciting time.

Would you have gone to space if they had asked you to?

Yes, but I didn’t have the chance. For me, though, the fun is in being part of the crew that is designing and developing the vehicles.

Profile Owen Morris was a manager in both the Apollo and space shuttle programmes. He consulted for NASA on the development of its Orion crew capsule (pictured). On 4 December, an uncrewed Orion will blast off, orbit the Earth twice and splash down

This article appeared in print under the headline “Back to making people fly”