Roy F. Brissenden - Hampton, Virginia and NACA / NASA Langley

Hampton, Virginia and NACA / NASA Langley

In 1955, Roy chose to relocate to Hampton, Virginia, having been recruited to join the professional staff of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) at Langley Research Center, later to become National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). His concentration while at NACA/NASA was in the design, construction and training for Rendezvous and Docking Programs. He, alone, designed the Docking Simulator and supervised its construction; employing the expediency and physical means which saved the government several millions of dollars. In the Simulator, Roy personally trained all the Apollo Mission astronauts for lunar orbital flight and landings. The Docking Simulator was his major professional accomplishment. A massive work of engineering artistry and detail, it has been designated as a National Monument, and hangs in perpetual display in the NASA Hangar, Building #1244. During his tenure, Roy was the author or co-author of more than 40 published professional papers. For the design of aeronautic and general scientific equipment and devices, he was the awardee or co-awardee of numerous U.S. patents and of Presidential Citations.