John
Halajian, Engineer,
–
John Halajian, an engineer who pioneered the scientific
exploration
of the moon. John spent his early years in Damascus,
Syria,
where, he completed his primary and secondary education
in
the French Jesuit School. After obtaining his French baccalaureate,
he
pursued his higher education at the American University of Beirut,
where
he received his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and architecture.
During
a time of unrest in Lebanon, John was the first in his immediate
family
to cross the ocean to America to begin a new chapter in
his
life. He was accepted to Harvard University, and pursued a Master’s
Degree
in civil engineering, with a specialty in soil mechanics.
Shortly
after graduating, he came to New York. Early
in
his career, he chose employment at Grumman Aerospace in Bethpage,
Long
Island. (1954-1989). Mr. Halajian’s exceptional engineering
talent
was recognized at his workplace, and he was recruited
to
provide his expertise in soil mechanics for the purpose of developing
a
proposal for NASA regarding the manned lunar landing mission.
What
began as a few weeks detour from his daily stress analysis work
on
military aircraft turned into a multi-year immersion into mapping
the
moon, and determining its soil composition. John Halajian
often referred to this period as his most
labor intensive and prolific years.
His
extensive writings and reports from this period
(accessible on the NASA archives website)
illustrate Halajian’s ingenuity,
scientific curiosity and perseverance in
determining the outer make-up of the moon.
His experiences were chronicled in his recently
published memoir, Moon
Stories:
A Road Map to Lunar Exploration.
Halajian’s
research also led him to other areas levels, and through his work he co-invented
+---a
pioneering version of the digital camera. He wrote about his one passion, Moon Stories.
This books represent John’s expansive knowledge
of multiple aspects in
sciences and the arts.
