Guenter F. Wendt (b. August 28, 1924 in Berlin) is a German-American engineer noted for his work in the U. Berlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. S. manned spaceflight program. An employee of McDonnell Aircraft and later North American Aviation, he was in charge of the NASA Kennedy Space Center launch tower pad operations from the entire Mercury through Apollo programs (1959-1975). The McDonnell Aircraft Corporation was an American Aerospace manufacturer based in St North American Aviation was a major US Aircraft manufacturer, responsible for a number of historic aircraft including the T-6 Texan trainer the His official title was "Pad Leader".
The native of Germany studied Aeronautics in Berlin and served as Luftwaffe on-board mechanic during the war. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Aeronautics (from Greek aero which means air or sky and nautis which means sailor i ( German 'luftvafe is a generic German term for an Air force. Like his father, he immigrated to the U.S. in 1949 and became a U. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the S. citizen in 1955. As an engineer, he worked for McDonnell Aircraft during the Mercury and Gemini manned space programs supervising spacecraft launch preparations at Cape Canaveral. An engineer is a person professionally engaged in a field of Engineering. The McDonnell Aircraft Corporation was an American Aerospace manufacturer based in St Team The Gemini program was managed by the Manned Spacecraft Center Houston Texas under direction of the Office of Manned Space Flight NASA Headquarters Washington Cape Canaveral from the Spanish Cabo Cañaveral, is a headland in Brevard County Florida, United States, near the center of that He was the last person seen by the astronauts before liftoff. Donn Eisele's pun "I wonder where Guenter Wendt" was used in Apollo 13, spoken by Tom Hanks. Donn Fulton Eisele ( June 23, 1930 – December 2, 1987) born in Columbus Ohio, was a test pilot in the USAF and a Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks (born July 9 1956 is an two-time Academy award and Emmy winning American Film actor, director
Wendt, the 'final word' for the launch tower white room 'close-out' team (responsible for loading and securing the mission crews, ensuring that spacecraft instrumentation, switches and controls were correct for launch, and securing the hatch), was fondly nick-named "Der Führer of der Launch Pad" (from his German-English accent) by the astronauts for his disciplined, yet good-humored pad crew leadership. Wendt, like many others of the NASA Kennedy Space Center, remains a colorful and little-known, and yet essential figure in the history of manned space exploration.
After the Apollo 1 accident on the pad, Guenter Wendt was hired by the Apollo CSM contractor North American Rockwell. Rockwell International was the ultimate incarnation of a series of companies under the sphere of influence of Willard Rockwell, who had made his fortune after the invention and He had stopped "turning the lug wrench" to secure the hatches for astronaut crews with the end of the Gemini Program. However, NASA veteran Wally Schirra demanded reassignment of the ever-competent Wendt specifically as the in-charge Pad Leader for Schirra's crew's Apollo 7 spaceflight. Walter Marty Schirra Jr ( March 12, 1923 &ndash May 3, 2007) was one of the original Mercury 7 astronauts chosen for the Project The other Apollo mission crewmembers shared an equal high regard for Wendt, so Wendt stayed on in the Pad Leader role through the end of the Apollo missions. Wendt was regarded as somewhat of a welcomed good luck figure to mission crews; as above, always the last reassuring earth-bound human face they saw, kidding with the crewmembers and wishing them a 'successful trip', as he directed completion of the complex pad 'close-out' procedures just prior to spacecraft launch.
He worked at the cape into the early Space Shuttle flights. NASA 's Space Shuttle, officially called the Space Transportation System ( STS) is the Spacecraft currently used by the United States
Guenter F. Wendt also served as a technical consultant for several TV and movie features and wrote in his biography The Unbroken Chain about his time at NASA. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA, ˈnæsə is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program He remains a personal friend of many American astronauts, and is a recipient of NASA's "Letter of Appreciation" award. An astronaut or cosmonaut (космона́вт) is a person trained
Biography
- Guenter Wendt & Russell Still, The Unbroken Chain, (ISBN 1-896522-84-X)
On film and television
Guenter F. Wendt has been portrayed in a number of movies and television shows or series about the Space Race, including:
- Apollo 13 (played by Endre Hules). The Space Race was a competition of space exploration between the Soviet Union and the United States, which lasted roughly from 1957 to 1975 His character was playfully mocked by Jim Lovell (played by Tom Hanks): "Aaah, Gunter Wendt! I vonder vhere Gunter vent?"
- From the Earth to the Moon (played by Max Wright)
External links
Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks (born July 9 1956 is an two-time Academy award and Emmy winning American Film actor, director From the Earth to the Moon is a twelve-part HBO Television Miniseries (1998 co-produced by Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Max Wright (born August 2, 1943) is an American Actor, best known for his role as Willie Tanner in the Sitcom ALF The John F Kennedy Space Center ( KSC) is the NASA Space vehicle launch facility and Launch Control Center ( Spaceport) onDapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic