NASA

Chris Kraft: The Father of NASA’s Mission Control

Bill Thompson

This weekend marks 55 years since human beings first set foot on the surface of the moon

The Apollo 11 mission put astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon Good 3rd crew member, Michael Collins, remained in the orbiting And module .

It was the fulfillment of an ambitious goal set at the beginning of the 1960s by President John F Kennedy .

During the 1960s tens of thousands of talented engineers and experts working at warp speed, if you will, help the U.S. reach that goal

At the heart of it all was a brilliant aerospace engineer named Christopher Columbus Kraft Jr. It was largely Chris Kraft created, pioneered, or invented many of the things that we now regard as standard elements of the NASA space program

Get your copy of Chris Kraft’s book

From Mercury to Gemini to Apollo, Kraft was there, helping shape what the space program became .

In 2001 Chris Kraft wrote a memoir of his life and career, mirroring that of NASA.it was called flight comma and that’s….few minutes with this iconic figure.

So here now, from 2001 Chris Kraft.

Chris Kraft died in 2019, just days after the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing he had helped make possible.

Wally Schirra

Bill Thompson

The US space program was launched, so to speak, in 1959, when the first seven mercury astronauts were named.

These pioneers laid the groundwork for the Gemini, Apollo, and space shuttle missions that would follow in coming years and decades.

Among those seven was a 36-year-old test pilot named Wally Schirra.

Over the next few years he would become a household name, along with those like John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, and Alan Shepard.

Finally, in 1988, Schirra wrote his autobiography. And that’s when I had a chance to meet him

So here now, from 1988, astronaut Wally Schirra/

Wally Schirra died in 2007. He was 84.

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Buzz Aldrin
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Jim Lovell

Bill Thompson

Look at the calendar. Tomorrow’s date is 4321. That inspired me to choose today’s interview, with the man who was commander of the Apollo 13 mission, which took place 51 years ago this month.

Jim Lovell was the commander of the three-man crew, whose mission was to land on the Moon. But just two days into the mission, something went terribly wrong.

Tom Hanks, who played Jim Lovell in the movie Apollo 13, uttered the words that have become a catchphrase. But in the moment when level actually said those words, he and his crew mates were dangerously close to death.

In 1994, Jim Lovell co-authored a book about the Apollo 13 mission, and that’s when I met him.

So here now, from 1994, Jim Lovell:

Lovell celebrated his 93rd birthay last week.