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Rocket Man from The Mohawk Valley
Amsterdam’s Rocket Man
By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History
Amsterdam city historian Robert von Hasseln has compiled biographical data on Rocco Petrone, Amsterdam’s link to the moon landings that took place over 50 years ago.
Petrone was launch director at Kennedy Space Flight Center in Florida and was what the New York Times called a “driving force” in the Apollo moon program. “Sparsely spoken and self-effacing in public, Petrone was tough, blunt, and demanding in private,” von Hasseln said.
“Once, when a briefing contractor attempted to bluff him on a critical question the contractor could not answer, Petrone physically hustled him off the podium and had him banned from ever working with the space program again.”
Petrone was born in Amsterdam in 1926. His parents were immigrants from Sasso di Castalda in Basilicata, Italy. Petrone’s father was a railroad laborer killed in a work accident when Rocco was an infant. His mother worked in a glove factory and later remarried.
“As a child, Petrone delivered ice to make family ends meet,” von Hasseln said. Petrone received an appointment to West Point in World War II where he did well academically and played defensive tackle on the 1945 national championship football team.
He served during the occupation of Germany and earned advanced degrees at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He worked on the U.S. missile program in the 1950s and was detailed to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel from the Army in 1966 to assume the launch director job at NASA.
After the moon landing in 1969, Petrone was promoted to direct the entire Apollo Program. In 1973, he became director of Marshall Space Flight Center where he oversaw the Skylab space station project. He retired from NASA in 1975.
He became CEO of a resource recovery organization but returned to the space industry as an official of Rockwell International.
Von Hasseln said, “Petrone was one of the few to recommend against the launching of the Space Shuttle Challenger on its last mission in 1986, although his concern was that cold weather would damage its insulating tiles, not the o-ring seals in the booster rockets which failed causing the explosion that destroyed the craft and killed its crew.”
Petrone died in 2006. He and has wife Ruth Holley Petrone lived in California and had four children. The launch control center in Florida has been named in his honor. Petrone Square at Church and East Main in downtown Amsterdam is also named for him.
Von Hasseln said, “The day he died the Space Shuttle Atlantis was undergoing its final preflight checks at the space port he had helped build. In an ironic but perhaps fitting tribute to his accomplishments, Petrone’s obituary drew more space in the national media than what by then was an almost routine event.”
NOSTALGIA NEIGHBORHOOD
Historic Amsterdam League held an Amsterdam trivia night recently at the Brewery at 30 East Main Street. Jerry Snyder of the League said, “We had about 40 people there and I think everyone had a good time. How can you not when there's pizza and beer? We'll probably do another one later this year.”
Bonus question at the first session was about WCSS, Amsterdam’s first radio station. Here’s a WCSS question: Who was the longtime early morning host of Amsterdam’s WCSS? Was it Bill Pope, Don Weeks, Lloyd Smith or Boom Boom Brannigan?
The answer is Lloyd Smith. Bill Pope was popular on WCSS but did not do the early morning show. Don Weeks did early mornings on WGY radio. Boom Boom Brannigan did an early morning radio shift in Amsterdam but at another station, originally called WAFS.
Bob Cudmore is a freelance writer.
518 346 6657
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By Bob CudmoreAmsterdam’s Rocket Man
By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History
Amsterdam city historian Robert von Hasseln has compiled biographical data on Rocco Petrone, Amsterdam’s link to the moon landings that took place over 50 years ago.
Petrone was launch director at Kennedy Space Flight Center in Florida and was what the New York Times called a “driving force” in the Apollo moon program. “Sparsely spoken and self-effacing in public, Petrone was tough, blunt, and demanding in private,” von Hasseln said.
“Once, when a briefing contractor attempted to bluff him on a critical question the contractor could not answer, Petrone physically hustled him off the podium and had him banned from ever working with the space program again.”
Petrone was born in Amsterdam in 1926. His parents were immigrants from Sasso di Castalda in Basilicata, Italy. Petrone’s father was a railroad laborer killed in a work accident when Rocco was an infant. His mother worked in a glove factory and later remarried.
“As a child, Petrone delivered ice to make family ends meet,” von Hasseln said. Petrone received an appointment to West Point in World War II where he did well academically and played defensive tackle on the 1945 national championship football team.
He served during the occupation of Germany and earned advanced degrees at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He worked on the U.S. missile program in the 1950s and was detailed to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel from the Army in 1966 to assume the launch director job at NASA.
After the moon landing in 1969, Petrone was promoted to direct the entire Apollo Program. In 1973, he became director of Marshall Space Flight Center where he oversaw the Skylab space station project. He retired from NASA in 1975.
He became CEO of a resource recovery organization but returned to the space industry as an official of Rockwell International.
Von Hasseln said, “Petrone was one of the few to recommend against the launching of the Space Shuttle Challenger on its last mission in 1986, although his concern was that cold weather would damage its insulating tiles, not the o-ring seals in the booster rockets which failed causing the explosion that destroyed the craft and killed its crew.”
Petrone died in 2006. He and has wife Ruth Holley Petrone lived in California and had four children. The launch control center in Florida has been named in his honor. Petrone Square at Church and East Main in downtown Amsterdam is also named for him.
Von Hasseln said, “The day he died the Space Shuttle Atlantis was undergoing its final preflight checks at the space port he had helped build. In an ironic but perhaps fitting tribute to his accomplishments, Petrone’s obituary drew more space in the national media than what by then was an almost routine event.”
NOSTALGIA NEIGHBORHOOD
Historic Amsterdam League held an Amsterdam trivia night recently at the Brewery at 30 East Main Street. Jerry Snyder of the League said, “We had about 40 people there and I think everyone had a good time. How can you not when there's pizza and beer? We'll probably do another one later this year.”
Bonus question at the first session was about WCSS, Amsterdam’s first radio station. Here’s a WCSS question: Who was the longtime early morning host of Amsterdam’s WCSS? Was it Bill Pope, Don Weeks, Lloyd Smith or Boom Boom Brannigan?
The answer is Lloyd Smith. Bill Pope was popular on WCSS but did not do the early morning show. Don Weeks did early mornings on WGY radio. Boom Boom Brannigan did an early morning radio shift in Amsterdam but at another station, originally called WAFS.
Bob Cudmore is a freelance writer.
518 346 6657