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John Kobak
(c. 1936 - )
engineer and administrator who graduated as an engineer in 1958, and joined the Lewis Lab of NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics). He progressed through the Rocket Laboratory, and by 1987 became responsible for building the Power Systems Facility to develop the Space Station’s electric power system.
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Science Quotes by John Kobak (3 quotes)
[It was] a lot of fun and we were so absorbed trying to do a good job that we didn’t think of the dangers. Until later on when people were saying, “You were sitting on top of all that hydrogen and oxygen.” Those tanks were right outside, the control room’s right there. I mean now, like up at Plum Brook, the control room for B-2 is like half a mile away. We were fifty feet away.
— John Kobak
Recalling his experience with rocket engine tests using liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, while working as an engineer at the Propulsion Systems Laboratory. From Interview (1 Sep 2009), for the NASA Glenn History Collection, Oral History Collection, Cleveland, Ohio. As quoted an cited in Robert S. Arrighi, Pursuit of Power: NASA’s Propulsion and Systems Laboratory No. 1 and 2 (2012), 91.
Fun years for me, for a guy who used to like to blow up things. We had lots of explosions, lots of blowups.
— John Kobak
Recalling his experience as an engineer at the Propulsion Systems Laboratory. From Interview (1 Sep 2009), for the NASA Glenn History Collection, Oral History Collection, Cleveland, Ohio. As quoted an cited in Robert S. Arrighi, Pursuit of Power: NASA’s Propulsion and Systems Laboratory No. 1 and 2 (2012), 82.
The way you learn anything is that something fails, and you figure out how not to have it fail again.
— John Kobak
From Interview (1 Sep 2009), for the NASA Glenn History Collection, Oral History Collection, Cleveland, Ohio. As quoted an cited in Robert S. Arrighi, Pursuit of Power: NASA’s Propulsion and Systems Laboratory No. 1 and 2 (2012), 82. This quote is widely seen on the web, often incorrectly attributed to Arrighi, who was only the author of the book in which the quote by Kobak was given.
In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion.
(1987) -- 
