Thomas Baron

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Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Other people". Thomas Ronald "Tom" Baron (Template:C. 1938 – April 27, 1967)[1] was a quality control and safety inspector for North American Aviation (NAA), when NAA was the primary contractor to build the Apollo command module.[2]

Early life and education

Baron was born in or around 1938, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.[3] He attended Liberty High School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.[3]

Career

Baron initially enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, where he was stationed at Eglin Air Force Base in Okaloosa County, Florida.[3] He was later hired as a quality control inspector with North American Aviation, the prime NASA contractor for construction of the Apollo spaceship.[3]

Whistleblower report

Baron compiled a 169-page report critical of safety standards at North American Aviation, and leaked his report to the media.[4] After NAA learned of this, they fired him.

After the Apollo 1 fire, Baron wrote a 275-page report on NASA safety protocol violations, which he gave to Rep. Olin E. Teague's investigation at Cape Kennedy in Florida, on April 21, 1967.[5]

The chairman of the NASA Oversight Committee claimed that Baron had made a valuable contribution to the Apollo fire probe, but that he had been "overzealous".[6]

Death

Six days after his testimony, Baron was killed instantly, along with his wife and stepdaughter, when a train crashed into their car just north of their home in Titusville, Florida.[1][7][8]

References

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  6. Daytona Beach Morning Journal, May 4, 1967.
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  8. "Shuttle Workers Say They Are Afraid to Talk About Challenger", Orlando Sentinel, July 23, 2021

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External links