Oceanside
April 4, 1968, was one of the best days of Shelby Jacobs’ life. It was also one of the worst.
Early that morning, the now-85-year-old “hidden figure” of NASA’s space program proved the success of a camera system he’d adapted for use on the Apollo 6 spacecraft. But that now-famous slow-motion film footage, which was among the first to show the curvature of the Earth from space, was overshadowed that evening by the assassination of Jacobs’ longtime hero, Martin Luther King, Jr.
A still from the video footage of a section of the Saturn V rocket separating from the unmanned Apollo 6 spacecraft on April 4, 1968. Oceanside resident Shelby Jacobs adapted the camera system that shot this video.
NASA ‘hidden figure’ Shelby Jacobs answered MLK’s call to Alabama
Updated Jan 18, 2021;
Posted Jan 18, 2021
OCEANSIDE, CA - JANUARY 14: Retired NASA engineer Shelby Jacobs, 85, poses for photos at his home on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021 in Oceanside, CA. (Eduardo Contreras / The San Diego Union-Tribune)TNS
Facebook Share
By Pam Kragen The San Diego Union-Tribune (TNS) and Tribune Media Services
April 4, 1968, was one of the best days of Shelby Jacobs’ life. It was also one of the worst.
Early that morning, the now-85-year-old “hidden figure” of NASA’s space program proved the success of a camera system he’d adapted for use on the Apollo 6 spacecraft. But that now-famous slow-motion film footage, which was among the first to show the curvature of the Earth from space, was overshadowed that evening by the assassination of Jacobs’ longtime hero, Martin Luther King, Jr.