Martin Geasley

1930 – 2008
Honeysuckle Creek

Martin Geasley is at centre in this detail from the Honeysuckle Creek post-Apollo-11 team photo by Hamish Lindsay.

Martin Geasley was hired in London by a recruiting team from Australia on behalf of Honeysuckle Creek contractors Standard Telephones & Cables – Station Director Bryan Lowe and Hugh Peach, accompanied by a NASA group from the Goddard Space Flight Center.

Martin writes:

“My title was Ground Communications Coordinator in the Grade of Supertech.

In 1968 with the departure of Hugh Bergin, Comms Engineer in charge of Comms Section, I was elevated to Communications Supervisor in charge of the Comms Section.

On transfer to the DSN in 1975 I was reassigned to the position of Operations Supervisor until my resignation in October 1980 when I took up a new career in the Computer Industry as Manager of Test Operations with Amdahl Ireland Limited, at their factory in Swords, Co. Dublin, Ireland. I was subsequently transferred back to Australia as Manager Customer Services and Field Engineering Manager.

I retired on 29th January 1995 on my 65th Birthday.”

Martin notes that the recruiting team in 1966 also selected John Saxon and Eric Gadd, making those three the only ones to be hired from the UK in 1966.

Martin received this award as “a Distinguished, Capable tracker in the Contemporary Order of Gemineers” in September 1966.

Martin writes, “Whilst doing my Apollo 3 months training at Goddard Space Flight Centre, I was drafted to the Gemini 12 Mission support”.

The certificate reads:

BE IT KNOWN BY ALL HERE PRESENT THAT
Martin Geasley
ON THE 23 DAY OF SEPTEMBER IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 1966 IS DULY APPOINTED A
Distinguished, Capable Tracker
IN THE CONTEMPORARY ORDER OF
Gemineers

… AND AS SUCH IS TO BE AFFORDED ALL OF THE PRIVILEGES AND RIGHTS OF THAT DOMAIN OF THE GREAT NORTHERN CONSTELLATION BETWEEN CANCER AND TAURUS.

THE RESULTS OF LONG, DILIGENT TRAINING SO QUALIFIES THIS INDIVIDUAL TO FUNCTION IN THE REALM OF WORLD WIDE TRACKING, TELEMETRY AND DATA ACQUISITION, DIGITAL COMMAND, RADAR, COMMUNICATIONS AND OTHER SUCH INTRICATE SYSTEMS FOR PROGRAMMED INVESTIGATIONS INTO CISLUNAR, TRANSLUNAR OR INTERGALACTIC PHENOMENA.

AS AN HONORED MEMBER OF THE CONTEMPORARY ORDER OF GEMINEERS, HE IS TO BE ACCORDED THE FULL RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES IN ALL INTERSTELLAR AND INTERGALACTIC AFFAIRS OF THIS ORGANIZATION.

What was the Order of Gemineers?

This article in Volume 3, Number 3 of Goddard’s Technical Information Bulletin explains.

Martin Geasley and Merl Stokes in the Comms Room. The hatch led through to the Ops console.

Photo taken by Hamish Lindsay, probably late 1966 or early 1967.

Martin Geasley during Apollo 8.

Photo: Ron Hicks.

Keith Hiscock, Martin Geasley and Gillian Morris during Apollo 8.

Photo: Ron Hicks.