Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Glynn Lunney, the Flight Director for the dramatic Apollo 13 mission, died on March 19 at the age of 84.
NASA issued a press release: “Lunney was a flight director for the Apollo 11 Moon landing mission, and was lead flight director for Apollo 7, the first crewed Apollo flight, and Apollo 10, the dress rehearsal for the first Moon landing, in NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston....
“One of the most notable events in his career came April 13, 1970, after an oxygen tank in the Apollo 13 service module exploded on the way to the Moon. His team reacted quickly and effectively to prepare the astronauts and their spacecraft to complete a safe-return trajectory around the Moon and return home safely. Under Lunney’s direction, the team innovated and worked with the astronauts to deliberately shut down the command module systems so that the lunar module could be used as a lifeboat for the crew during the journey home to Earth. His team’s work was widely credited with keeping the crew alive and safe while longer-term plans were developed for a successful reentry and splashdown.” He was 34 years old at the time.
Lunney told an NPR interviewer in 1997, “Most of the people who are engaged in this business, both the crews airborne and the folks on the ground, are sort of high achievers. And when something comes along that requires them to do something out of the ordinary, they usually embrace it, and go at it with all the energy they can put into it. I think people view these things as challenges as much as anything, and challenges to be overcome by their own performance.”
