Personal: Male. Born in Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Chana, the son of a Western Union telegraph operator, was born in Chicago, Illinois. He spent two years in college at Purdue before being recruited to work at the Consolidated Aircraft Company in San Diego. He started there on 23 June 1941, working in the flight test function from September 1941 to 1953. He then moved to customer service, where he spent two years in 1955-1956 supervising a flight test program for the Lobber, a small rocket designed to resupply US Army troops cut off behind enemy lines. Thereafter he worked in customer support on the Atlas ICBM, then later managed an oceanographic buoy system for the Navy. After further management positions in Proposal Development, Long Range Plannning, and Marketing, Chana retired from Convair in 1973.