posted 04-07-2015 04:00 PM               

At first glance, it looks like just another auditorium in just another government building. But among the talented men (and later women) who worked in mission control, the room located on the third floor of Building 30 — at what is now Johnson Space Center — would become known by many as "The Cathedral." These members of the space program were the brightest of their generations, making split-second decisions that determined the success or failure of a mission. The flight controllers, each supported by a staff of specialists, were the most visible part of the operation, running the missions, talking to the heavens, troubleshooting issues on board, and, ultimately, attempting to bring everyone safely back home.

None of NASA's storied accomplishments would have been possible without these people. Interviews with dozens of individuals who worked in the historic third-floor mission control room bring the compelling stories to life. Go, Flight! is a real-world reminder of where we have been and where we could go again given the right political and social climate.

• Hardcover
  
• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press (December 1, 2015)
  
• ISBN-10: 0803269374
  
• ISBN-13: 978-0803269378

posted 10-05-2015 11:01 AM               

From the moment I walked into the historic third-floor MOCR literally with tears in my eyes, I knew I wanted to do something to honor the people who had worked there. I'm thankful to Colin Burgess and the rest of the gang at UNP who've allowed co-author Milt Heflin and I to do just that.

Honestly, the book could be summed up in this quote from Lee Briscoe, a former Apollo-era backroomer who made it all the way to the flight director's console during the Shuttle program. "The people who inhabited that room while all this was going on were amazing people, and they did amazing things," Briscoe said. "It's just a shame that you can't preserve those people like you're going to preserve that room. Those people deserve that kind of place in history."

posted 10-24-2015 07:45 AM               

A great story that had just been waiting to be told.

posted 11-03-2015 12:53 PM               

In addition to Milt Heflin and myself, John Aaron, Bob Carlton, Bill Moon, Rod Loe, Hal Loden, Jim Kelly, Jack Garman and Bob Heselmeyer have agreed to participate. Jerry Bostick and Chuck Deiterich are tentative attendees.

posted 11-06-2015 07:40 AM               

On Friday, December 11, we will be signing books in the Building 3 cafeteria on site at Johnson Space Center. That event begins at 11 a.m., and is open only to NASA employees and contractors as Robert has noted below.

The following afternoon, there will be a presentation on the book in Space Center Houston's Blast Off Theater at 1 p.m., followed by an epic book signing outside the Space Trader store at 2 p.m.

Besides Milt and myself, those who have agreed to participate include:

• John Aaron -- made the famous SCE-to-Aux call during the launch of Apollo 12, and played a key role in returning the crew of Apollo 13 safely to Earth.

• Arnold Aldrich -- worked the Systems console in the Mercury Control Center before becoming branch chief and overseeing the EECOM and GNC flight controllers in Houston. During the Apollo 13 crisis, he oversaw the critical checklist for re-entry procedures.

• Lee Briscoe -- a former Apollo-era backroomer who became a flight director during the Shuttle era. He was on console in mission control when the Challenger accident took place.

• Bob Carlton -- famously watched over the Lunar Module Eagle's dwindling fuel supply during the Apollo 11 lunar descent.

• Ed Fendell -- despite having only a two-year associate's degree in merchandising, he would one day be in charge of all things having to do with communications during the Apollo era.

• Jack Garman -- a Flight Dynamics SSR backroomer, Jack was on console and helped give Eagle the Go for landing during its infamous computer-alarm incidents during the Apollo 11 landing phase.

• Bill Gravett -- served as a Retro officer for the flights of Gemini 9, 10, 11 and 12, as a member of the simulation team during much of Apollo and as an EGIL during the Shuttle era.

• Charlie Harlan -- on the Booster console during the tense moments of the Gemini 6 launch pad abort, Charlie also served as an assistant flight director.

• Bob Heselmeyer -- was on console for one of his first shifts in the MOCR when the Apollo 13 accident took place.

• Jim Kelly -- another SSR backroomer who played a key role in putting together power-up procedures with good friend John Aaron during the Apollo 13 crisis.

• Larry Keyser -- an Operations and Procedures Officer and Assistant Flight Director during Gemini and Apollo, he was on Glynn Lunney's Black Team that took over for Gene Kranz during the first shift handover following the Apollo 13 accident.

• Hal Loden -- Lunar Module Control officer who was on console for the critical liftoff of Eagle from the lunar surface.

• Rod Loe -- the lead EECOM for the flight of Apollo 8.

• Glynn Lunney -- one of NASA's first four Flight Directors ... was on console as Apollo 8 slipped behind the first moon for the first time ... took over from Gene Kranz for the first shift handover following the Apollo 13 accident ... the lead Flight Director for Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.

• Merlin Merritt -- a Telmu who tried to convince Flight Director Glynn Lunney that the Lunar Module's guidance system needed to be turned off as soon as possible during the Apollo 13 crisis, Merritt later went into Christian ministry and education.

• Jerry Mill -- split his time between the SSR and Guidance console late in the Apollo program.

• Bill Moon -- the son of Chinese immigrants who grew up in rural Jim Crow Mississippi, Bill was the first minority to work in the MOCR.

• Bill Peters -- monitored Buzz Aldrin's spacesuit during the historic Apollo 11 moonwalk, and then during the Apollo 13 crisis, was in charge of the critical Lunar Module checklist.

• Gary Scott -- as the INCO on duty in the MOCR at the time of the Apollo 13 accident, battled communications problems caused when the explosion damaged the Service Module's High Gain Antenna.

• Dutch von Ehrenfried -- after working in the Mercury Control Center and as an Assistant Flight Director during Gemini and as a Guidance officer early in Apollo, Dutch also served as a spacesuit test subject during his years at NASA.

• Milt Windler -- one of the first two people from outside Flight Operations to be named to the role, Windler was the lead Flight Director for Apollo 13.

posted 11-06-2015 09:04 AM               

My review copy arrived just the other day and its on my short list to start reading.

posted 11-08-2015 09:35 AM               

BOOK REVIEW
The Apollo moon landing program has been written about from many perspectives – the engineering of the machines, the science returned from the moon, the management of complex programs, the dedication of workers across the country and the political reasons for it’s ultimate success. While the astronauts were on board the spacecraft they and their craft were watched over by a team of dedicated mission controllers and computers in NASA’s Mission Operations Control Room (MOCR). These are the people who calculated the rocket firings, orbital maneuvers, braking requirements, rendezvous coordinates and more – in many ways they flew the actual mission. This is the story of those people.

This is a wonderful book that tells what went on behind the scenes at mission control. The training and simulations for missions are covered as well as the actual missions themselves. The book is full of first hand interviews with the people involved and they have generated nuances and details never uncovered before. For instance, many enthusiasts will be familiar with John Aaron’s “SCE to Aux” call as Apollo XII was launched into a thunderstorm, but the book has pages of details around this single call, from how the knowledge was originally discovered to the other critical calls made during this off-nominal launch.

While the Gemini and Apollo spacecraft carried computers, these were ultimately back ups to NASA’s MOCR and Real Time Computing Complex. Authors Rick Houston and Milt Heflin have done an outstanding job of taking us back to those rooms, where men in their 20’s made life or death decisions during the flights. The book starts by explaining the location and function of each console then moves on to operations. Years ago there were big gaps in NASA’s worldwide tracking abilities and the consequences of these are explained as well. The Gemini missions are covered in full, then we move on. Tensions between different controllers or different ideas to solutions are decided by the Flight Director, who ultimately had complete authority over the mission. An incident tells how senior NASA management learned to not change decisions made by the Flight Director. The background and training of these people and movement of staff from the “Trench” to the back support rooms is covered. The book also does an outstanding job of bringing us inside the camaraderie of the Flight Controllers, their feelings during hectic but historic parts of their job and the respect they had for their co-workers, management and leadership.

posted 12-10-2015 11:11 PM               

With so many of the former flight controllers and guests flying in from out of town, it would have been almost impossible to reschedule.

posted 12-11-2015 12:09 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Rick:
This is the kind of people I dealt with in working on this book.

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posted 12-12-2015 08:29 PM               

Rick, your absence was felt but understood, and condolences were shared.

Milt Heflin delivered the pre-signing presentation and introductions with the help of Rick's pre-prepared slides, adding his own, often humorous comments to the talk (especially when it came to the part when Rick was planning to praise Milt for his guidance writing the book).

After introducing all the "Unsungers" in attendance (including surprise guest, Gene Kranz), Milt ended the talk by a memorable reading of Ken Young's "A Visit from St. Kranz," which was both appropriate for the time of the year and set the tone for what surprises await readers in "Go, Flight!"

The book signing then commenced. It was perhaps the longest signing table Space Center Houston (or for that matter, any venue that I have been to) has hosted, with 24 of the "Unsungers" autographing. (Rick, at some point, I am sure you are going to be asked to be the 25th in many people's books, mine included.)

From the start of the line with Bill Moon to the last (Milt), everyone seemed happy to be there and chat with those waiting to have their books signed. Among those in line were current flight controllers and even an astronaut-turned-flight director, TJ Creamer.

posted 12-12-2015 08:29 PM               

Everyone I spoke to seemed to be having a great time and were thrilled to be in the presence of so much history.

I haven't had the chance to start reading "Go, Flight!" but I already know this will be a treasured addition to the shelf...