Fwd: the passing of Andy Saulietis

Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Date: December 10, 2014 at 8:54:47 PM CST
To: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Subject: FW: the passing of Andy Saulietis

Thanks to Chuck Shaw for letting us know of Andy's passing.

 

I have known Andy since July 1975 when, as Chuck noted,  Andy was our Subsystem design expert on the Space Shuttle Orbiter Startrackers.    We worked in the same Engineering Division- EG.  Andy was a very smart and personable guy.

 

First listing I found for Andy was in the October 1965 Manned Spacecraft Center phonebook- see attached.

 

Last listing I found for Andy was in the November 1994 Johnson Space Center phonebook  -see attached.   Not sure if retired in 1994 or 1995, since I do not have a 1995 JSC phonebook.

 

Please keep Andy's family in your thoughts and prayers at this very sad time of loss.  

 

Interesting links below relative to Andy.

 

This link is an article relating the story of Andy and 4 others observing (little did they know at the time) the explosion on Apollo 13 from the top of Buidling 16 at the MSC that caused Jim lovell and his crew to miss a chance to land on the Moon.

 

"Every ten seconds the TV camera integrated, or updated, the image. "Between one ten-second integration and the next one," says Hoffler, now retired in Titusville, Florida, "we can't say exactly what second that was, the less bright dot was not a dot anymore. It was an expanded sphere, reflecting light. A disc. And I remember the guy who was in charge of the thing, Andy Saulietis,...he said, 'What in the world is that?' Every ten seconds it continued to grow a bit, and then started to fade as the gas dissipated into the vacuum of space. We watched it for two or three minutes I guess. In retrospect, none of us had the presence of mind to call next door to Mission Control and say, 'Hey guys, you've got a problem.' ""

 

http://www.airspacemag.com/daily-planet/apollo-13-eyewitness-to-the-explosion-135059193/?no-ist

 

http://www.satobs.org/seesat/Feb-1998/0229.html

 

http://www.astronomytoday.com/astronomy/interview1.html

"Until recently, the reflectors had been mounted on equatorial platforms for tracking purposes (see the December 1991 issue of Sky and Telescope for an article on one of these platforms). At present, my Newtonians use altitude-azimuth-focal plane (Alt-Az-FP) drive systems designed by Andy Saulietis, a close friend and also extremely talented member of JSCAS and the Texas/New Mexico amateur astronomy world."

 

http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/roundups/issues/80-04-04.pdf

 

 

 

 

From: Chuck Shaw
Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2014 7:49 PM
To: Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)
Subject: Andy Saulietis

 

Larry,

 

This afternoon I received the note at the bottom of this note to you.  Thought you might let folks know, especially any old timers over in the Engineering Directorate and in the retiree group.

 

Thanks!

 

Chuck

 

 

Chuck Shaw

Merritt Island, FL  32952

----------------------------------------------------------------------

 

I did not get the note about Andy Saulietis at the bottom of this note till this afternoon, Dec 10^th.   I am profoundly saddened by Andy's passing..

 

To those that did not know him or only knew him in passing, He has been a close friend to me for over 30 years, with Astronomy, in general, and ATM (Amateur Telescope Making) in particular, being a passion for both of us.  We have built and modified many many telescopes and mounts thru the years, and right up until only a few weeks ago we had still had "BF"("Brain Fart") sessions together on projects actually in work and those we were jointly dreaming (BF'ing) about.  He was one of the smartest guys I have ever met, and one of the best natured people I have ever known. He ran the Electro Optics Lab at JSC for many years, and was one of the prime engineers on the Apollo and then Shuttle Star Trackers.

Generous to a fault, he would make things for me that I designed, and I would get his PC's and astro software running for him (alas, even though unreal smart, he still seemed like he believed computers ran on steam... who knows, maybe that's what really is inside all those little black giblets on printed circuit boards instead of just smoke??  

 

He always surprised me...Like the time I was at his house and saw what I took to be a pre-war Gibson 5 string banjo there (I used to play an elcheapo 5 string).  I asked if he played and he proceeded to rip out a lighting speed version of Foggy Mountain Breakdown!  Wow!   Or the time (also at his house) that he answered the phone and proceeded to get up and pace back and forth quickly and be very animated, almost yelling incomprehensible guttural sounds into the phone.  After a few minutes of this, and put down the phone and came back and sat down, and started to resume the calm conversation we had been having.  I stopped him and asked him what in the world had just happened? He sheepishly grinned and said his Mom had called and just wanted to talk...turns out Andy was of Latvian ancestry, and he said his Mom only spoke Latvian fluently.  And Latvian obviously can be good natured but still smacked of Visigoths snarling in smoky caves...........

 

The world will not be quite the same place without Andy.....  May he rest in peace and always have clear skies!!

 

Chuck

 

 

 

-----Original Message-----

----- Forwarded Message -----

From: Jonathan Burkhard <jnburkhard@me.com>

Subject: Update on Andy Saulietis....

 

As many of you know Andy has been in poor health for quite some time.  About a week and a half ago Andy had to be hospitalized, as his condition had worsened. Since then he was transferred to a hospital in Albuquerque in an effort to better treat his heart. Unfortunately, his body was unable to withstand undergoing surgery and today he passed away peacefully. All of our family was around him and he was not in any pain. We would appreciate any thoughts and prayers you could offer for our family.

 

We will have a memorial for Andy at Cloudcroft United Methodist Church in Cloudcroft, NM on Saturday December 13, 2014 at 11 am.

 

Thanks,

 

Susan Saulietis and Family

 

P.S. Any questions regarding the memorial service are to be directed to Julia Burkhard (Andy's daughter) at 806-778-2339 or ttujulia@yahoo.com<mailto:ttujulia@yahoo.com>