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Christopher Kraft at Flight Console

Christopher Kraft
Christopher C. Kraft, Jr., who died July 22, 2019, created the concept of NASA's Mission Control and developed its organization, operational procedures and culture

Christopher C. Kraft, Jr., who died July 22, 2019, created the concept of NASA’s Mission Control and developed its organization, operational procedures and culture, then made it a critical element of the success of the nation’s human spaceflight programs. In this image, he’s at his Flight Director console in the Mission Control Center during Gemini-Titan V flight simulation on Aug. 15, 1965.

In his 2001 autobiography “Flight: My Life in Mission Control”, Kraft wrote: “Scientists say there is no life on the moon. I look at the moon today, see the faces from NASA, industry, science and academe who brilliantly sent Americans to that place, and I know differently. The people of Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo are blossoms on the moon. Their spirits will live there forever. I was part of the crowd, then part of leadership that opened space travel to human beings. We threw a narrow flash of light across our nation’s history. I was there at the best of times.”

Image Credit: NASA