Thomas Baron
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Thomas Ronald Baron (died April 1967)[1] was a quality control and safety inspector for North American Aviation (NAA), the company that built the Apollo command module.[2]
After the Apollo 1 fire Baron wrote a 500 page report on NASA safety protocol violation, which he gave to Rep. Olin E. Teague's investigation at Cape Kennedy, Florida on 21 April 1967. When Baron mentioned the report up during his testimony, Teague told him "Your report went to the chairman of the full committee, not to me", that "something of that length ... we can take it as an exhibit."[3]
No more than eight days after his testimony, Baron was killed instantly, along with his wife and stepdaughter, when a train crashed into their car near their home in Florida.[1][4] Baron's death was later ruled as an accident, or suicide by some reports.
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[edit] Baron Reports
Thomas Ronald Baron actually wrote two reports. The first, a 55 page report was presented to NASA officials in late 1966,[citation needed] alleging improper actions, and irregularities he had witnessed while working at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). NAA managers met with Baron to address his report, they decided that some of Baron's criticism had merit, but that the rest of his report was inapplicable or unfounded for a variety of reasons. After leaking his report to the media, he was fired. Baron then started to assemble a more thorough report. After the Apollo 1 fire, he delivered this report, containing at least 500 pages, to the Congressional committees investigating the incident. This report disappeared after his death, and has not been found since.[citation needed]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b Garber, Steve (January 27, 2010). "Chapter 9". Apollo-1 (204). NASA. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/Apollo204/foot.html. Retrieved 22 September 2010.
- ^ "Source Notes: Chapter 18: The Fire That Seared the Spaceport". NASA. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/pao/History/SP-4204/notes18.html. Retrieved 22 September 2010.
- ^ Piers Bizony (2006). The man who ran the moon: James E. Webb and the secret history of Project Apollo. Thunder's Mouth Press. p. 138.
- ^ "Baron Report (1965-1966)". history.nasa.gov. http://history.nasa.gov/Apollo204/barron.html. Retrieved 2008-12-15.
- "Apollo Critic, Wife, Daughter Killed in Crash," Atlanta Constitution, 29 April 1967.
