Charles VanValkenburgh

Charles VanValkenburgh

Space simulators

Astronautics--Human factors

Space suits

Charles VanValkenburgh grew up in Huntsville, AL, and he went to Auburn University. There, he majored in Industrial Design and he had a part-time job as a draftsman at one of the civil engineering firms. After graduating college, he received a job at Essex in Huntsville. At this job, Charles would get in the water of the Neutral Buoyancy Tank and make sure that all the tools and everything was in place for an astronaut. Sometimes, he would even be the test subject. After all the testing from the day, they would all have a debriefing session at this company where the astronaut, human factors experts, and engineers would all make inputs. After the debriefing, they would take the ideas and get the machinists to make some modifications to the hardware. Charles would also work in pressure suits, and he explains how restricted the suit made him feel. He also mentions the foot restraints, and how difficult they were to work with. In his career, Charles was also able to help design the underwater version of the manned maneuvering unit.

Oral History Collection

University of Alabama in Huntsville Archives and Special Collections

2018-09-28

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Interviews

Video

Friday__September_28__2018_at_10_34_25_AM_default_122089af

MC_136_

2000s

Stokes, Jack

VanValkenburgh, Charles

0:26:43