Chris Kraft, the original NASA flight director, passed away earlier today, two days after the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. The cause and location of his death have not yet been reported. He was 95.
UPDATE: He died in Houston, where he had lived during and after his time with NASA.
Christopher Columbus Kraft Jr. was born in Phoebus, Virginia to Christopher Kraft Sr. and the former Vanda Suddreth. He was a talented baseball player and a state champion bugler. He went to college at Virginia Tech and soon after enrolling tried to enlist in the U.S. Navy, but was turned down due to a burnt hand suffered at age 3. He completed his studies, earning a B.S. in aeronautical engineering.
His first job was with the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, a government agency which ran the Langley Research Center in Hampton, not far from Phoebus. In 1958, the agency was incorporated into the newly created National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He joined NASA's Space Task Group and was soon assigned to Project Mercury, America's first program to put a man in space. Kraft not only established but came up with the concept of a mission control center. He served as flight director for all six manned Mercury missions.
During the ensuing Gemini program, Kraft the leader of a team of flight directors, who had to work in shifts due to the longer duration of the program's missions. He was on duty during America's first flight with two astronauts, first rendezvous, and first spacewalk. He would allow other controllers to take over the Gemini missions so that he could start planning the Apollo program.
Kraft became the director of flight operations during for the Apollo program, and became involved in the decision to send Apollo 8 into lunar orbit. He was largely a spectator during the Apollo 11 mission, watching from Mission Control, but was more involved with the Apollo 13 crisis. He stepped down from NASA in 1982. He would later serve as a consultant for companies such as Rockwell International and IBM.
Kraft is survived by his wife Betty, and their two children Gordon and Kristi-Anne.
Read more at Ars Technica, the Houston Chronicle, ABC 33 40, Florida Today and CBS News.
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