Topic: Jerry Woodfill, Apollo engineer (1943-2022)
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 47798 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 01-17-2022 09:01 AM
Jerry Woodfill, who helped develop the caution and warning alarm system for the Apollo command module and lunar module, died on Sunday (Jan. 16, 2022). He was 79.
From his website, now offine, a brief, undated biography:
For more than 50 years, Jerry Woodfill has been employed by NASA in Houston. He holds BAEE and BSEE degrees from Rice University which he attended on a basketball scholarship.
At the onset of the lunar landing program, he managed the spacecraft warning systems so that he was monitoring spacecraft Eagle's descent when Neil Armstrong landed on the Moon.
Likewise, on April 13, 1970, Jerry was monitoring Apollo 13's warning system when the vehicle exploded. His system was the first alert of the life-threatening malfunction depicted in the Tom Hanks-Ron Howard movie "Apollo 13." For his role in the rescue of Apollo 13, he shared the Presidential Medal of Freedom as a member of the Apollo 13 Mission Operations Team.
Starfighter1 Member
Posts: 120 From: Registered: Feb 2007
posted 01-17-2022 09:06 AM
.
fredtrav Member
Posts: 1785 From: Birmingham AL Registered: Aug 2010
posted 01-17-2022 09:40 AM
.
GACspaceguy Member
Posts: 2776 From: Guyton, GA Registered: Jan 2006
posted 01-17-2022 10:14 AM
.
ManInSpace Member
Posts: 268 From: Brooklin, Ontario Canada Registered: Feb 2018
posted 01-17-2022 11:29 AM
.
SkyMan1958 Member
Posts: 1152 From: CA. Registered: Jan 2011
posted 01-17-2022 11:40 AM
.
randy Member
Posts: 2540 From: West Jordan, Utah USA Registered: Dec 1999
posted 01-17-2022 11:57 AM
.
Kevin T. Randall Member
Posts: 1380 From: Chesham, Bucks UK Registered: Dec 2008
posted 01-17-2022 12:50 PM
.
David Carey Member
Posts: 928 From: Registered: Mar 2009
posted 01-17-2022 02:48 PM
.
mode1charlie Member
Posts: 1298 From: Honolulu, HI Registered: Sep 2010
posted 01-17-2022 03:08 PM
.
star51L Member
Posts: 458 From: Vilano Beach, FL, USA Registered: Aug 2002
posted 01-17-2022 04:01 PM
.
SpaceCadet1983 Member
Posts: 375 From: Pacific NW, United States Registered: May 2012
posted 01-17-2022 04:13 PM
.
gareth89 Member
Posts: 431 From: Ireland Registered: May 2014
posted 01-17-2022 04:45 PM
.
MartinAir Member
Posts: 143 From: Registered: Oct 2020
posted 01-17-2022 05:01 PM
.
Kite Member
Posts: 1008 From: Northampton UK Registered: Nov 2009
posted 01-17-2022 05:01 PM
.
Jurg Bolli Member
Posts: 1121 From: Albuquerque, NM Registered: Nov 2000
posted 01-17-2022 05:37 PM
.
dss65 Member
Posts: 1279 From: Sandpoint, ID, USA Registered: Mar 2003
posted 01-17-2022 05:59 PM
.
capoetc Member
Posts: 2277 From: McKinney TX (USA) Registered: Aug 2005
posted 01-17-2022 08:04 PM
.
tedc Member
Posts: 179 From: Renton, WA USA Registered: Mar 2002
posted 01-17-2022 10:51 PM
.
Panther494 Member
Posts: 533 From: London UK Registered: Jan 2013
posted 01-18-2022 02:03 AM
.
JohnPaul56 Member
Posts: 248 From: Montclair, NJ, USA Registered: Apr 2010
posted 01-18-2022 12:16 PM
.
LM1 Member
Posts: 852 From: New York, NY Registered: Oct 2010
posted 01-19-2022 08:04 AM
.
RobertB Member
Posts: 247 From: Israel Registered: Nov 2012
posted 01-19-2022 03:54 PM
.
Grounded! Member
Posts: 480 From: Bennington, Vermont, USA Registered: Feb 2011
posted 01-19-2022 04:54 PM
.
SpaceAholic Member
Posts: 5000 From: Sierra Vista, Arizona Registered: Nov 1999
posted 01-19-2022 04:57 PM
.
oly Member
Posts: 1340 From: Perth, Western Australia Registered: Apr 2015
posted 01-19-2022 05:44 PM
.
ejectr Member
Posts: 1878 From: Killingly, CT Registered: Mar 2002
posted 01-20-2022 10:32 AM
.
DG27 Member
Posts: 207 From: USA Registered: Nov 2010
posted 01-20-2022 06:15 PM
.
Jeff Member
Posts: 562 From: Fayetteville, NC, USA Registered: May 2009
posted 01-21-2022 06:08 AM
.
rjb1elec Member
Posts: 303 From: Merseyside, England Registered: Oct 2004
posted 01-22-2022 10:06 AM
.
hlbjr Member
Posts: 531 From: Delray Beach Florida USA Registered: Mar 2006
posted 01-23-2022 02:00 AM
.
Buel Member
Posts: 814 From: UK Registered: Mar 2012
posted 01-24-2022 05:26 PM
I have been thinking long and hard whether to post my thoughts on the passing of this incredible man, mainly because I am not sure that words alone would do him justice.
In the meantime, here is the article that Nancy Atkinson has written on Jerry that includes some of my thoughts. Nancy does a brilliant job of explaining what Jerry was to us.
Kite Member
Posts: 1008 From: Northampton UK Registered: Nov 2009
posted 01-25-2022 09:36 AM
Thats quite a tribute Craig.
Buel Member
Posts: 814 From: UK Registered: Mar 2012
posted 01-27-2022 07:07 AM
If you would like to see Jerry in "full flight," watch him here from 16 minutes, a true force of nature:
posted 01-17-2022 09:01 AM
advertisement