Tape: H2000-18-11

 

Larry Sweet talks with Bill Schneider in Fairbanks, Alaska on May 6, 2000 about...

1) Family background.

born -- Fairbanks\ parents -- Seattle\ father -- high school\ sheet metal -- Western blower\ Nome, Alaska\ work -- Road Commission\ railroad\ transportation -- mining\ mother -- relationship\ marriage\ Fairbanks\ mining\ parents -- middle class\ Fairbanks -- small town|

2) Secondary school.

Main School\ grade school\ Lathrop High School\ library -- moving\ high school -- active\ Alaska -- state requirements|

3) The high school principal and the Geophysical Institute tracking Sputnik.

cafeteria -- high school\ Lathrop High School class president\ Chena Ridge\ Farmers Loop\ science\ career\ Sputnik -- launch\ Geophysical Institute\ Sputnik -- tracking\ Merit, Bob\ Ballaine Lake\ ionosphere\ spacecraft -- weight|

4) Deciding to become an engineer and work for the Geophysical Institute.

engineer -- electrical\ Fairbanks\ FE Company\ Love, Jim\ project -- English\ consultant -- architectural\ Sputnik 1\ Geophysical Institute\ NASA\ vanguard project\ Merit, Bob\ Ballaine Lake\ field sites\ science\ college|

5) The college years.

high school\ college -- University of Alaska Fairbanks\ Washington State University\ University of Washington\ Seattle, Washington\ Lockheed Missiles and Space Company\ Sunnyvale, California\ college -- graduates\ antenna lab\ San Francisco Bay\ spacecraft antennas|

6) Larry's first job with Lockheed.

Alaska\ Geophysical Institute\ antenna pattern -- plot\ antenna\ ground station\ rocket\ spacecraft -- launch\ Kodiak, Alaska\ lab|

7) Leaving his job at Lockheed and moving back to Alaska.

strip chart\ Kodiak, Alaska\ lab\ Alaska -- job\ Lockheed\ Bettles\ Allakaket\ barges -- surplus\ raft\ field site -- bush\ generator\ Geophysical Institute|

8) The military's involvement in science.

Stanley, Glen\ C3 ionospheric sounder\ Fairbanks\ Barrow\ Allakaket\ generator\ field site -- tower\ rocket range\ military surplus equipment\ military -- help\ bush\ military exercises\ University of Alaska Fairbanks\ Boy Scouts\ survival schools -- winter\ bureaucracy|

9) Working at the Geophysical Institute and the Geophysical Institute's mood and style.

Stanley, Glen\ Davis, Neil\ Auroral Television Project\ Sputnik -- launch\ Geophysical Institute\ career path\ coil system\ magnetometers\ Hemholtz coil|

10) Being professionals and able to figure out equipment.

Halinan, Tom\ television program\ television cameras\ images\ image earthalon tube\ Aurora -- study\ Aurora -- detail\ rocket launch\ electron accelerator -- launch\ NASA\ magnetosphere\ Ester Dome -- station\ Chena Hot Springs Road -- station\ rocket range\ Shaw, Glen\ Osborne, Dan\ Barrow\ Fort Yukon|

11) The effect on the family due to an intense work schedule.

family life\ Geophysical Institute\ rocket shot\ North Slope\ Geophysical Institute -- extended family\ Samoa|

12) The sense of team work and camaraderie at the Geophysical Institute.

work -- stress\ work -- pranks\ money -- lack\ rocket shot\ Elgin Air Force Base\ Poker Flat\ Fairbanks\ Florida\ New York\ airplane -- PanAm\ weather -- launch\ teamwork\ camaraderie\ data|

13) Getting involved in military programs.

military programs\ universities -- United States\ work -- classified\ Aurora\ nuclear detonations\ magnetosphere\ nuclear bomb\ nuclear particles -- transportation\ electric fields\ magnetic fields\ BM and W ballistic missles -- early warning\ mathematician\ tracking radar\ Aurora simulation\ rockets|

14) Adventures with the military programs.

Elgin Air Force Base\ military programs\ Vietnam -- training\ Cuba\ rocket launch\ triangulation\ television cameras\ television monitor\ North Star|

15) The pre-rocket launch routine.

rocket shot\ frequency\ noise -- filtering\ rockets\ camera\ calibration point|

16) The dangers of the radar beam and explanations.

television monitor\ radar\ optic image\ radar beam\ building -- burning\ limit switches\ classified program\ military -- ability\ foul-ups -- bury|

17) Military project mishaps.

rocket range\ Poker Flat\ military program\ radar sites\ barium rockets\ Thule, Greenland\ New York City\ rocket shots\ military -- B52\ nuclear warhead\ B52 -- crashed\ Fort Churchill\ Akasofu, Syun-Ichi\ NASA\ Canada\ Greenland\ plane -- scientific research\ plane -- crash\ reporter -- NBC\ Aurora\ base commander|

18) The military looks for a new rocket launch site.

military craft\ airplane -- NASA\ Fort Churchill -- landing\ reporter -- NBC\ nuclear weapons\ Danish soil\ H-bomb\ Greenland\ latitude -- high\ Fairbanks\ White Sand Missile Range\ Joint Task Force 8 (JTF8)\ lease property\ Poker\ Nike sites\ launch range -- Nike\ Barrow, Alaska\ Geophysical Institute\ rocket range\ site -- Chena Valley|

19) Preparing the Poker Flat site and stories from Greenland.

Poker Flat\ Carver, Jude\ mining site\ railroad rails\ railroad ties\ Usibelli\ mining cars\ bridge girders\ Chatanika\ nuclear weapon -- Danish soil\ Thule, Greenland\ Nielsen, Hans -- Dane\ Phoenix, Arizona\ nuclear disaster -- quick response team|

20) The lack of leadership/responsibility within the military and the circumstances around the creation of Poker Flat Research Range.

Poker Flat -- political reason\ rocket launch\ Wallups Island\ Allakaket\ blockhouse\ military\ Joint Task Force 8\ Pentagon -- Defense Atomic Support Agency (DASA)\ nuclear weapons\ nuclear bombs\ Pentagon -- Advanced Research Program Administration (ARPA)\ White Sands Missile Range\ power line|

21) The check-up on Poker Flat progress.

Colonel's -- retirement\ rocket range\ Gilmore Creek -- packing station\ Fairbanks\ Geophysical Institute\ University of Alaska Fairbanks\ White Sands Missile Range\ military colonel -- house arrest\ Pentagon|

22) Finishing Poker Flat Rocket Range.

military attitude\ security\ electrician\ Smith, Jack\ Chief of Security\ JTF8\ White Sands\ rocket range\ Fort Churchill|

23) Concluding thoughts.

university administration\ engineer\ Geophysical Institute\ Synthetic Aperture Radar facility\ responsibility|

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