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| Dr. James Joki Photo courtesy Ballard School Foundation |
As a flight controller assigned to Mission Control, Joki helped develop, test and modify the spacesuits, backpacks, visors, gloves and oxygen systems that Aldrin and Armstrong would rely on for life support during their walk on the moon.
The mission unfolded in phases, and Joki’s part took place from the time Aldrin and Armstrong donned their suits and opened the door of the lunar module, to the moment they returned safely to the spacecraft and shut the door.
Many Shoreline residents know him as the doctor who delivered their babies. And how did he go from Mission Control to the delivery room?
Joki recalls walking through a hospital during this time and hearing the beeps of a machine monitoring a pregnant woman’s unborn child. He instantly sensed a parallel between seeing astronauts through a moon walk and helping women and babies through pregnancy. In 1971, he left NASA and went to medical school, and he spent the next chapter of his career delivering babies at Seattle’s Northwest Hospital.
His home is full of space travel-related memorabilia.
A good Finn (Joki means “river” in Finnish), he keeps some of these artifacts in his home’s basement sauna.
Read the full article here
KING5 Evening Magazine did a segment on Dr. Joki July 18, 2019. View it here.
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