Local man remembered for inventions used in space travel – Shelby Star

Danny Warlick remembers the stories his uncle would tell him of space inventions and monkey food.

There was a giant right there in Shelby, Warlick said. He was a treasure to our nation.

Daniel Boryta was a chemist who helped invent a lithium hydroxide filter system used in space travel, and there was one story in particular that immortalized him.

One night the phone rang really late, and it was NASA. The astronauts had spilled Tang, Warlick recounted. It had gotten pulled into the air circulator, and they didn't know how it would react. NASA was worried, how is this going to react with the lithium hydroxide? He had to sit down with a pencil and paper, and I remember this fondly, a wooden, old school slide ruler. He did all the mathematical calculations and determined it would be safe.

Daniel Alfred Boryta, 85, died earlier this month. Born in Schenectady, New York, he eventually made his home in Shelby.

At one time, Boryta was a manager of base chemical research at Cypress Foote Mineral Company and while employed by Foote, he helped develop the lithium hydroxide filter life support system used by NASA in their space missions.

Lithium hydroxide is on the space station right now, Warlick said. Not one launch is without lithium hydroxide. If you watched the movie Apollo 13, they make a big deal about it.

In an old newspaper article, it recounts the Tang disaster that occurred during an Apollo moon mission in the late 1960s. According to the article, the Tang was spilled while orbiting the moon and just before the moon landing.

At Borytas funeral, a display table held photos of a smiling Boryta, articles and certificates recognizing his achievements, and the original wooden ruler he used to make his calculations.

Warlick said at the funeral, relatives shared memories of his inventions. He said his uncle figured out a process for finding leaks on pool covers and liners, an invention he developed while working in Chile to extract lithium from the brine underneath salt flats.

Also when they sent the monkeys into space, he worked on the food for the monkeys and his daughters were telling how he had brought home some of the food and gave it to them to try, Warlick said.

A space buff himself, Warlick enjoyed talking space missions with his uncle but never felt inferior.

He was a genius, he said. If you met him, you would ask him how are you? And he would say fantastic. You didn't feel less if you were around him because of his intelligence. You felt taken back by his smile.

Warlick remembers when he was younger and was pouring a Diet Coke into a glass. He stuck his finger in the liquid to keep the fizz down.

He noticed me doing it and said, Do you know why that's happening? I said no, I don't have a clue. The ridges on your finger are like a million bitty surfaces, carbonation needs surface reaction, when you put your finger in, it's the surface reaction. He was tickled to explain that. He loved what he did. He was historically good at it.

Warlick said Boryta will be recognized by the United States Congress.

Audrey Bishop, district director for congresswoman Virginia Foxx, said the communications team is working with Foxx to memorialize Borytas accomplishments.

Boryta, who also enjoyed sailing and camping, is survived by his wife, Pam Brackett Boryta, four daughters, one son and several grandchildren.

Rebecca Sitzes can be reached at rsitzes@gannett.com

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Local man remembered for inventions used in space travel - Shelby Star