SAEET - Where are they now?

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Archived Media Articles by Santa Ana Register

Thursday, October 21, 1999

SANTA ANA, California USA — In 1963, a group of five Santa Ana, California students from Westminster High School were involved in an experimental rocketry group, the SAEET - Society for the Advancement of Extraterrestrial Exploritory Techniques. While there were several more members than in this photo to the right, with the exception of one or two others, these were the core group.

This group built a few non-flying test rockets and had plans to build those that would have flown. In those days, the fuel of choice was zinc sulphur laced with a gum Yucca resin as the binder. When one looks back on the crude and imprecise methods they used to bake a charge within the chrome-moly rocket motor housing, one of their former members remarks that "it is truly a wonder disaster never struck."

The test stand these rocketeers are working on in this photo was eventually blown to very small shards when one test rocket blew up on the stand. Seems their "engineer" misplaced a decimal point on the shop drawings the machinist used to turn the nozzle, essentially turning a rocket motor into a bomb.

Luckily, the High School sponsor required them to fire those things at the Explosion Ordinance Disposal Range at El Toro under the supervision of the US Marine Corps. All of them were behind the blockhouse that was used for disposing of live ammunition, so no one got hurt.

But they claim to have come away from the experience with a deeper understanding of just what they were working with and the limits of their genius and technique at that stage of development.

With the demolition of the test stand and the loss of much of their instrumentation, the club had reached the end of its resources, and faded into obscurity. Fortunately, though, most of them lived to tell about it.

One member in the photo, Klaus Egolf, was killed in Viet Nam but as far as is known, all the others are still around. Mike Martin and Tom Bradford are the only ones not immediately accountable for although Mike went on to become an engineer for Philco Ford's Aeronautics division.

The text under the photo, from the Santa Ana Register, reads: "Shoot the moon — Five Westminister high school boys are going to El Toro today to load their experimental rocket which they have been working on during their spare time since school started nearly a year ago. They are shown above with the firing stand, left to right, Richard Meredith, Tom Bradford, Mike Martin, Guy Meredith and Klaus Egolf. They will load the rocket under supervision of the Explosion Ordnance Disposal Unit at El Toro and then leave it for two weeks while the propellant, cold zinc sulfur, cures. The rocket is 2 feet 3-1/2 inches long and 1-5/8 inches inside diameter. The rocketeers are members of the Society for the Advancement of Extraterrestrial Exploration Techniques (SAEET). (Register photo)"

How many folks could say back then that they had even attempted something like this in any sort of serious way? One can only wonder — where are they now?

Reader comments:

#1 Re: Article: SAEET - Where are they now?

I received an email from one of the young guys featured in this article. I hope Mr. Meredith doesn't mind me sharing this information with you other readers.

Quote:

Of the SAEET members in the photo from the Register:

Richard Meredith lives in Temecula, CA and is working for a company in that area.

Tom Bradford went on to found a network hardware company. The last time I saw Tom he was driving off into the Temecula sunset in a DeTomaso Pantera arouid 1990.

Michael Martin just retired from the aerospace industry where he was part of the Mars Rover and Deep Impact teams among others. You early rocketeers are my heros.

Klaus Egolf was died in action in Viet Nam. Klaus was a very intelligent and all around great person and friend. His passing is a very sad loss I still feel. www.virtualwall.org/de/EgolfKD01a.htm

I (Guy Meredith) am currently living in San Ramon, CA and working for Xerox where I had the pleasure of watching Xerox develop all that we now enjoy in networking, personal workstations, window GUI, mice and other items.

Thank you, Mr. Meredith, for taking the time to send this to me. You early rocketeers are my heros.