Commentary
This is not the original picture I was looking for to start this page with. It shows me with my son in front of Mission Control at Space Center Houston. The flag is flaying at half mast in honor of the passing of my father, Joseph Guy Thibodaux, Jr. This site, as you may have noticed, is intended to bring to life stories from his generation, his many accomplishments and my perspective on these events and stories. He was the first Chief of the Propulsion and Power Division at NASA and stayed in that position until his retirement in the early 1980’s. His selection to this position was based on his accomplishments as a Chemical Engineer at the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (the NACA and precursor to NASA). I’m told his strongpoints were his ability to get the job done and to let others get their jobs done. These are critical points when your whole job is making sure that man lands on the moon and is safely retuned by the end of the decade; this is almost unequivocally the most significant event in the course of human history. Not that we aren’t due for another one.
The reason I ended up selecting this photo as the lead for this page is because my father had one last wish. That was to have a memorial tree planted next to his best friend, college roommate and fellow space pioneer ,Mr. Max Faget. There are a ring of trees at the front of NASA. The early astronauts get their ring of trees and recognized administrators get theirs’. My father never rose above the level of Division Chief because he never wanted to and believed his talents were best served in the only position he held at NASA. If you read this and have the time and ability please petition NASA and the current administration to plant a tree in his name next to his lifelong friend.
I also want to petition some of the current space pioneers like Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk to carry a small amount of his ashes that I have set aside into space. If anyone ever deserved a ride on the rockets that he made possible, it was my father. There are few remaining space pioneers form his generation that are able to help me in this regard. They are leaving the earth at a rapid pace and not aboard a space craft. Please come back to this site for more discussion on space, NASA and whatever else I discover left behind by my father.
Sorry about the poor quality of the picture.