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| SUNRAYS APRIL 2014
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D
on’t call Bill Campbell a rocket
scientist. “Rocket engineer is
more appropriate—there’s a big
difference,” he explained. “Engineers
design the rocket, after the scientists
design the mission.”
Bill started his career doing rocket engi-
neer design before there were computers,
when slide rules were the primary tool.
This technoligy was brand new and what
they were about to do had never before
been done. Back then, no one knew if the
design would be successful or not. It was
a case of “Try this and see if it works;
and fix it if it doesn’t.” There were some
failures among the successes; but, since
schedules were urgent, they learned and
improved quickly.
Currently, in spite of computers, a
rocket program takes years from start
to flight—that requires a lot of people,
time and money. Recently, Bill was pres-
ent when a commercial satellite launch
failed and he heard one of the engineers
mutter, “Well, there goes $400 million.”
Interestingly enough, though rockets
have changed drastically through the
years, the propellants (fuel to you and
me) have remained almost the same.
Most rockets run on oxygen/kerosene
or oxygen/hydrogen.
During Bill’s career, he traveled more
than two million miles and was away
from home for eight or nine years—but,
not all at once. With his engineering
degree, experience and talent, he rose
quickly through the ranks and, now,
years after retirement, he is still much
in demand as a consultant.
Time IN Russia
Throughout his career, Bill has collected
some rather interesting stories—many
from his most recent years, and many
from his time working in Russia.
The collapse of the USSR enabled Amer-
ican contractors to purchase existing
Russian engines, which, though old, were
performing successfully. Why? The Rus-
sian technology was in place, and they
could supply the engines at a fraction of
the cost it would take America to develop
a new engine program. This scenario
required Americans to work closely with
their Russian counterparts, which is why
Bill made 29 trips to Russia throughout
his career. These Russian engines are
being used now to supply cargo to the
International Space Station.
When asked about Russia, Bill summed
up his experience as “strange” and very
different from America. For instance,
eating out was a problem, with only one
or two restaurants in remote cities—even
in those cities with more than a million
residents. Menu options were limited,
and, often, not what was expected. To
vary their diet, the Americans found a
department store that sold pizza in a box,
Photo by Edna heard
Bill Campbell spent his career as a rocket engineer, designing rockets and
traveling across the globe.
Rocket
Man
By Edna Heard
