Ukrainians are behind US space flights: how immigrants send Americans to the stars

When at the end of the last or the very beginning of this century, the whole world watched the flights of space shuttle-type spacecraft, few people knew that behind the success of the program, apart from others, was also a Ukrainian. This is stated in the video "Voices of America".

The director of the orbital program, which was responsible for all the engineering issues of the shuttles, was an immigrant from the Lemkiv region, Bogdan Beimuk.

Subsequently, he was among the leaders of the Sea Launch program. Now the man is already retired, but he left behind a replacement - another engineer of Ukrainian origin.

Nestor Dub works for one of the largest aerospace and air defense corporations Boeing. Nestor works as an engineer, he says that this department of Boeing is engaged in the maintenance of the space station (ISS).

“We keep the station running in real time. Rotating joints for solar panels, various mechanisms, hatches, certain robotic operations. If something goes wrong, if something breaks, or if something doesn't work properly, we provide the information needed to make those things work properly,” Nestor says.

The ISS was launched in 1998. This is a joint project of 15 countries, including the USA, Russia, Japan and the European Union. Scientific research, which is extremely important for humanity, is carried out here.

“This is a very unique place. All types of research into life on Earth, healthcare, as well as exploration of the Earth’s orbit, testing new ideas for deep space exploration - all this takes place there,” Nestor shared.

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Nestor joined Boeing in 2006. His parents are Ukrainian immigrants, he himself was born in the United States. Nestor says he got a chance to get here precisely because he is of Ukrainian origin.

“In fact, I got the job thanks to connections in Ukrainian society. I met Beimuk at a Ukrainian church and told him I was looking for an internship, he told me to give him my resume and he would pass it on to the recruiter if he could,” shares Nestor.

Bohdan Beimuk (Bo) is an immigrant from Ukraine, a well-known consultant on space research, a former manager of Boeing.

“My most famous work was the work on the Shuttle,” says Beymuk.

He has worked as a program manager for the Rockwell shuttle, a manager at Boeing and an executive vice president and chief engineer for the Sea Launch floating launch site.

Bogdan was in charge of the main processes of the cosmodrome, which was a joint project of the United States, Russia, Ukraine and Norway. Several thousand people were his subordinates. She says that she managed to get such a position thanks to her Ukrainian origin.

“Boeing realized that I had a lot of experience, but I also knew Ukrainian and Russian, and they decided that I was an ideal candidate for the construction of Sea Launch, and I accepted the invitation,” says Bogdan.

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And although Bo is now retired and 81 years old, NASA still constantly turn to him for advice. And it all started with a salary of $ 1 per hour.

Bogdan comes from a Lemko family; he lived with his parents on the territory of modern Poland. After World War II, the family immigrated to Denver, Colorado. 20-year-old Bogdan came to the United States without knowledge of the English language and living conditions.

“I dug ditches and was happy to do it. I was paid $1 an hour then, I felt like the richest man in the world, in Poland I earned $7 a month,” recalls Beymuk.

He worked during the day and studied at the University of Colorado in the evening. Thanks to his steel endurance, Bogdan was able not only to build a brilliant career in the United States, but also to help other Ukrainian talents.

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