http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/news/117179376861630....
Project OSCAR member Richard "Dick" Esneault, W4IJC -- SK
I recently learned that Richard "Dick" Esneault, W4IJC, passed away.
My first encounter with Dick was many years ago when Gene Marcus, W3PM, mentioned that Mr. Esneault was involved with Project OSCAR and he was going to be part of the AMSAT Forum with me at the Huntsville Hamfest. The Forum was a big hit as Dick displayed articles on hardboard for display and the most spectacular item was the OSCAR-1 model that you could pick up and hold in your hands. Not just a model, but very much the same as the real model that went into space. The only other known model is in the Smithsonian Institution and here is this guy in Huntsville, Alabama carrying an OSCAR-1 prototype model in the trunk of his car to hamfests, field day sites, and local club meetings.
Mr. Esneault was never short on words. He could talk about the history of Project OSCAR and capture your attention. It was not until recent years that we thought we should really capture some of his conversation on videotape. So, we had him visit the Huntsville Amateur Radio Club a few years ago to share his memories.
Mr. Esneault always had an impressive display when he set-up to talk about Project OSCAR
His wife told him to tell us how they got the parts for OSCAR-1 and Dick with a big grin responded, "Well, well, they were acquired". He always said that Jack Kennedy hit a home run with Project OSCAR as a peaceful use of space. When asked what kind of battery was used on OSCAR-1 he responded, "It was a fancy battery, it wasn't cheap". Later discussion would reveal that perhaps it was one of those acquired items. Things that just appeared. When asked about the callsign used (HI) on OSCAR-1 he responded, "Hey, after Kennedy kicked the front door of his office wanting to get it up.. that made no difference.. we could have got up there and did anything, because he wanted it done.. it was sort of a blessing he got in on it.". When asked if there was any budget for OSCAR-1 or was it just all acquired Dick responded, "Budget to covert the cost of OSCAR? (pause) No, nobody would ever admit it, it just happened."
When asked how President Kennedy received project OSCAR, Dick responded, "Everret R Morrow (not sure if this name is spelled correctly), who Kennedy knew, heard about it in Washington and said let me talk to Jack about that. (pause) there was a big scream behind the closed door's. why isn't that blank, blank, blank thing up in the air now. and that is how Project OSCAR was received by the President."
Last year, I ran into Dick at the 2006 Huntsville Hamfest and he was looking in good health, but it was apparent his memory was slipping away. I could tell by the look his wife's eyes that he was not himself, so I played along with his conversation. The next day I called his son and he confirmed that his father was having some memory issues as I had detected.
Mr. Esneault was a pioneer (at the right place at the right time) in the satellite community as one of those enabler's to pave the way where we are today. We will certainly miss his stories as he had so many.
His picture can still be found in the Satellite Experimenters handbook (Directors of the Project OSCAR Association) the last time I checked.
73's,
Tim - N8DEU
Huntsville, Alabama