posted 04-29-2009 12:30 PM               

Raymond Bruneau, a former NASA Langley worker whose value to the space program came as an artist, not an astronaut, has died in Texas. He was 76 years old.

...his life took him to Virginia when he applied for a civil service job as an illustrator and landed at Fort Monroe in Hampton. In 1958, he transferred to NASA Langley Research Center where he befriended the original Mercury 7 astronauts.

In July, America will mark the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, and Mr. Bruneau knew both moon-walkers personally.

He painted a portrait of Neil Armstrong before the Apollo 11 flight, said his sister, Marie Jeanne Bruneau (Prothro) Roma, of Newport News.

Mr. Bruneau lived in the area until 1962, when he transferred to the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston. He retired in 1986 after more than 28 years of government service.