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The average age of NASA engineers on Apollo 11 was 28 https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/a4288/4318625/ https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/a4288/431862

The average age of NASA engineers on Apollo 11 was 28 https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/a4288/4318625/ https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/a4288/4318625/ You could almost make the argument that as these engineers hit their 40's they began mailing it in. I wonder how Soviet engineer ages correlated to the the relative success of particular programs?

mcbuilder 4y ago
IMO a 28 year old in 1968 was probably way more "mature" than a 28 year old now.
- tiahura 4y ago
  Perhaps, but what about innovation and ambition?
dboreham 4y ago
Those 28-year olds had pocket protectors though.
ted_dunning 4y ago
And Werner von Braun was 56 in 1968. You think he should have been replaced with somebody younger? Or do you think that his level of experience was useful?
- lostlogin 4y ago
  Experience can be a double edged sword, as not all experience is good. There is probably no better example of this than the hiring of older, German, rocket engineers by the US at that time. If Werner von Braun was younger he’d have been less likely to have been a career building nazi and SS member.
inetknght 4y ago
> The average age of NASA engineers on Apollo 11 was I don't know the specifics but I would be willing to bet that those Engineers passed ethics courses that are required to get an Engineering degree and certificate. ...unlike software "engineers".
- rockemsockem 4y ago
  You think the engineers that build rockets have to take ethics courses? And furthermore, that the lack of ethics courses and similar red tape is a huge loss? I'm happy to say it's definitely no on the first count and the second one is very subjective, but it's a strong no from me.
  - bumby 4y ago
    The OP used capital "E" engineering, so I'm assuming they may mean an ethics course for licensure, which is required in many states. With that said, I you generally aren't required to have an engineering license to work at NASA. A different charitable take is that ethics courses are generally a recurring requirement for government employees. I'm not sure how much impact that has on actually ethical behavior.
erosenbe0 4y ago
No. The engineers were at Grumman and North American Rockwell. You'd have to check with them. That article refers to flight dynamics officers in one large room, not engineers. There were thousands and thousands more. They were indeed younger then. People chain smoked, had heart attacks without modern bypass surgeries, generally had larger families and more kids to take care of.

mcbuilder 4y ago

IMO a 28 year old in 1968 was probably way more "mature" than a 28 year old now.

tiahura 4y ago
Perhaps, but what about innovation and ambition?

dboreham 4y ago

Those 28-year olds had pocket protectors though.

ted_dunning 4y ago

And Werner von Braun was 56 in 1968. You think he should have been replaced with somebody younger? Or do you think that his level of experience was useful?

lostlogin 4y ago
Experience can be a double edged sword, as not all experience is good. There is probably no better example of this than the hiring of older, German, rocket engineers by the US at that time. If Werner von Braun was younger he’d have been less likely to have been a career building nazi and SS member.

inetknght 4y ago

> The average age of NASA engineers on Apollo 11 was I don't know the specifics but I would be willing to bet that those Engineers passed ethics courses that are required to get an Engineering degree and certificate. ...unlike software "engineers".

rockemsockem 4y ago
You think the engineers that build rockets have to take ethics courses? And furthermore, that the lack of ethics courses and similar red tape is a huge loss? I'm happy to say it's definitely no on the first count and the second one is very subjective, but it's a strong no from me.
- bumby 4y ago
  The OP used capital "E" engineering, so I'm assuming they may mean an ethics course for licensure, which is required in many states. With that said, I you generally aren't required to have an engineering license to work at NASA. A different charitable take is that ethics courses are generally a recurring requirement for government employees. I'm not sure how much impact that has on actually ethical behavior.

erosenbe0 4y ago

No. The engineers were at Grumman and North American Rockwell. You'd have to check with them. That article refers to flight dynamics officers in one large room, not engineers. There were thousands and thousands more. They were indeed younger then. People chain smoked, had heart attacks without modern bypass surgeries, generally had larger families and more kids to take care of.