STC by Susan K. Smith
Last edited: Friday, August 27, 2021
Posted: Friday, August 27, 2021
It's 1984. The space shuttle Challenger is up in orbit. The Reagan administration is beefing up defense to fight the Evil Empire of Communism.
cover by DAVIS Creative
It's 1984.
The space shuttle Challenger is up in orbit. The Reagan administration is beefing up defense to fight the Evil Empire of Communism. And the Satellite Tracking Center, known as the S*T*C, is staffing up to meet those challenges.
...
This was the spirit of the times in my latest book---S*T*C.
Below is a recording of then-Governor Reagan's speech given at the 1964 Republican Convention that nominated Barry Goldwater. The visuals are updated to reflect the continuing struggle since then.
Yet in 1984, the Cold War was at an inflection point as the former USSR would soon fall apart and the Iron Curtain would be coming down.
Likewise more paradigm shifts rocked society, especially the S*T*C as...
The old boy network finds itself turned upside down when young professional women, such as Samantha Clark and Rosalind Hart, breach the male-dominated mission control teams inside the S*T*C. In the secrecy demanded in the classified world, how do Sam and Roz cope with men behaving badly? Will the women or the old boys break first?
This fictional historical novel gives a personal feel of the struggles many women faced with a touch of humor in the mix. It's not all black and white. Not all women were angels. Neither all men Neanderthals.
S*T*C is available as a paperback, kindle, kindle unlimited. (Links below)
Congratulations on your latest novel. The first thing that struck me was that Challenger was in orbit with its women cargo. So unfortunate. I recall interviewing with Lockheed and with an environmental engineer and Jimmy Carter buddy on the other end of the canoe. The day after the election was an untimely time to have a job interview. The engineer took me to an exclusive club for lunch and then told me with Jimmy gone, so would go his government contracts.
On the elevator going into Lockheed's Marietta, Georgia bunker with fellow applicants who were ecstatic about Reagan winning, I learned that I would be in charge of making sure that planes built there had "zero defects" (the buzzword at the time that could not be met) like Challenger. I was also to produce a newsletter emphasizing quality with a young black lady they had hired to do it. When I tried to bargain with them over my job offer from Houston, they wouldn't and I'm glad I didn't become their mouthpiece for continual war. They had an order for 30 C-130 Hercules from a country called, Iraq. The rest is history.
My high school genius friend went through college on ROTC and joined the Air Force. His initial aspiration was to be an astrophysicist. He ended up using a special camera, first on Sand Island in the Pacific tracking satellites and space junk, and then, in New Zealand. He returned to the States as the Supervisor of the then, Air Force satellite tracking center (STC?) In Colorado. During his time there, he got a call on the red phone, twice. Both times averting a nuclear strike because the intelligence the Joint Chiefs got was wrong and there was no missile launch. He didn't tell me whether there were women on his team.
In 1981, he was reassigned to Houston when I arrived here, working on the Air Force, relatively unknown, space shuttle program. He quit when he saw what was happening with the quality of the space shuttle operation, expecting a failure and retired at 20 years, a major. It's all in his autobiography which he so far, has refused to publish. Real history that I believe your book is probably very accurately based upon.
On the elevator going into Lockheed's Marietta, Georgia bunker with fellow applicants who were ecstatic about Reagan winning, I learned that I would be in charge of making sure that planes built there had "zero defects" (the buzzword at the time that could not be met) like Challenger. I was also to produce a newsletter emphasizing quality with a young black lady they had hired to do it. When I tried to bargain with them over my job offer from Houston, they wouldn't and I'm glad I didn't become their mouthpiece for continual war. They had an order for 30 C-130 Hercules from a country called, Iraq. The rest is history.
My high school genius friend went through college on ROTC and joined the Air Force. His initial aspiration was to be an astrophysicist. He ended up using a special camera, first on Sand Island in the Pacific tracking satellites and space junk, and then, in New Zealand. He returned to the States as the Supervisor of the then, Air Force satellite tracking center (STC?) In Colorado. During his time there, he got a call on the red phone, twice. Both times averting a nuclear strike because the intelligence the Joint Chiefs got was wrong and there was no missile launch. He didn't tell me whether there were women on his team.
In 1981, he was reassigned to Houston when I arrived here, working on the Air Force, relatively unknown, space shuttle program. He quit when he saw what was happening with the quality of the space shuttle operation, expecting a failure and retired at 20 years, a major. It's all in his autobiography which he so far, has refused to publish. Real history that I believe your book is probably very accurately based upon.
Good luck and happy sales to you!
Ron