Author
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Topic: Bob Carlton, Apollo 11 'Control' (1930-2019)
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Robert Pearlman Editor Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 04-10-2019 05:30 PM
Bob Carlton, who served as Control in Apollo Mission Control, died on Monday, April 8, 2019. He was 88. Carlton's death was noted on Facebook by Rick Houston, co-author of "Go, Flight: The Unsung Heroes of Mission Control." Carlton was featured in the book and the documentary it inspired, "Mission Control," which provides this biographical sketch. The man who would one day oversee the Lunar Module Eagle's dwindling fuel supply during the Apollo 11 moon landing dropped out of school in the ninth grade.A stint in the United States Air Force convinced Carlton that continuing his education might not be such a bad idea after all. He eventually graduated from Auburn University in his native Alabama, and then joined NASA in 1964 as a flight controller for the Agena docking target during the Gemini program. After Gemini, Carlton was section head over flight controllers who worked as "Control" officers responsible for the guidance, navigation and control of the Lunar Module. He was on duty when Apollo 11 landed on the lunar surface, calmly calling out how much fuel remained. It was close, but Eagle made it down safely. Apollo 11 was Carlton's final mission on console, if for no other reason than he wanted those who worked under him to be able to tell their grandchildren that they had worked in Mission Control during the moon landings as well. A devout Christian and family man, Carlton would insist in years to come that his career had taken a drastic toll on his family. It is a claim that his daughters firmly deny. Carlton left NASA in 1980 to join Aerospace Corporation in engineering support for the Space Shuttle program. |
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posted 04-24-2019 11:15 AM
Thank you for your great work with the Apollo Program. |
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