Gemini · Ars Technica
Milt Windler, NASA flight director who helped save Apollo 13, dies at 94
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Milt Windler, one of the four leaders of Mission Control who in 1970 directed the round-the-clock efforts to bring the Apollo 13 astronauts back to Earth safely, has died at the age of 94.
Key facts
- Born on Jan. 10, 1932 in Hampton, Virginia, Milton Windler graduated from Virginia Tech (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University) in 1954 with a degree in aeronautical engineering
- Milt Windler, one of the four leaders of Mission Control who in 1970 directed the round-the-clock efforts to bring the Apollo 13 astronauts back to Earth safely, has died at the age of 94
- As a member of Mission Control during the Apollo 13 mission, Windler and his fellow flight directors and controllers were awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by then-President Richard Nixon
- Windler rejoined NACA at Langley Research Center in Virginia and was there for its transition to becoming a NASA facility
Summary
Windler died on Thursday, surrounded by his loving family, according to a brief notice posted online. Named a NASA flight director in 1968 after working on recovery operations during the Mercury and Gemini programs, Windler also led a shift of flight controllers for the Apollo 8 first circumlunar flight and Apollo 10 lunar landing dress rehearsal, as well as the second, third and fourth moon landings, Apollo 12, Apollo 14 and Apollo 15. “Apollo was such a rapid pace that I don’t think people had the chance to think about it much. “It was not time for reflection,” Windler said.