- Apr 14, 2001
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My father, Robert F Gates, was born in 1927. Fought in the last year of WWII, volunteered for Operation Crossroads to get out early... and on the GI bill got a Masters (and later PhD) in electrical engineering.
He initially worked in radio technology as a grad student at Syracuse University and radar for ITT in Fort Wayne Indiana (where he met and married my mother in 1955) and transferred to their Van Nuys development facility in 1963.
In 1966 TRW headhunted him and he began work there.
He worked on a wide range of projects. Apollo, Both Voyager projects, the Hubble, GEODSS and more that are probably still classified.
In 1978/79 he developed and presented to the US government a plan for a directed beam alignment system using lasers that he tested off the TRW high rise in Redondo Beach. (Made famous in Star Trek TOS).
This would be (part of?) the basis for what would become SDI or "star wars" and he worked on that project at TRW's San Clemente facility for much of the 80s.
Report here:
Sadly he passed away in 1986 after removal of a tumor on his left auditory nerve. (Embolism formed in his leg during recovery on Memorial Day.)
Why am I telling you this?
Well, my family has been home PC geeks ever since my father brought home a Heathkit H8 in 1977 (I was 10).
Here is my father in 1986 just months before his death with the only granddaughter (out of 9 grandchildren) he got to meet:
I opened a long forgotten box from his office last week and this framed printout from the early 80s was in it. So I thought I would share with all of you.
Old office humor from a lifetime ago...
He initially worked in radio technology as a grad student at Syracuse University and radar for ITT in Fort Wayne Indiana (where he met and married my mother in 1955) and transferred to their Van Nuys development facility in 1963.
In 1966 TRW headhunted him and he began work there.
He worked on a wide range of projects. Apollo, Both Voyager projects, the Hubble, GEODSS and more that are probably still classified.
In 1978/79 he developed and presented to the US government a plan for a directed beam alignment system using lasers that he tested off the TRW high rise in Redondo Beach. (Made famous in Star Trek TOS).
This would be (part of?) the basis for what would become SDI or "star wars" and he worked on that project at TRW's San Clemente facility for much of the 80s.
Report here:
Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports
Lists citations with abstracts for aerospace related reports obtained from world wide sources and announces documents that have recently been entered into the NASA Scientific and Technical Information Database.
books.google.com
Sadly he passed away in 1986 after removal of a tumor on his left auditory nerve. (Embolism formed in his leg during recovery on Memorial Day.)
Why am I telling you this?
Well, my family has been home PC geeks ever since my father brought home a Heathkit H8 in 1977 (I was 10).
Here is my father in 1986 just months before his death with the only granddaughter (out of 9 grandchildren) he got to meet:
I opened a long forgotten box from his office last week and this framed printout from the early 80s was in it. So I thought I would share with all of you.
Old office humor from a lifetime ago...
Last edited:
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