We are gearing up for the 50th anniversary of the first person walking on the moon, on July 20, 1969. That was American astronaut Neil Armstrong, followed by Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin. But the moon mission required the work of thousands of people, who each had a hand in that historic moment. These range from the 21-year-old astronaut secretary Jamye Flowers (shown above) to the president who worked hard to make John F. Kennedy's vision a reality. This included the "back roomers," the tech experts who knew the smallest details about the Apollo mission.
Never did the “back roomers” prove their value more than on Apollo 11, when computer alarms sounded inside the lunar module just as Armstrong and Aldrin were minutes from landing on the moon. Not recognizing the codes—1201 and 1202—the astronauts asked for Mission Control’s decision: Abort or keep going?
Because the alarm involved the onboard computer, Flight Director Gene Kranz asked his guidance officer, Steve Bales, for a call. Bales in turn consulted one of his back roomers, 24-year-old Jack Garman, who recognized 1202 as a memory overload, and not a serious problem if it didn’t keep recurring. “Go!” came his instant response to Bales. (According to historian David Mindell, another computer expert sitting with Garman, Russ Larson, was too engrossed to speak, but gave his own thumbs-up.) The astronauts were cleared to land.
Read about the technicians, rocket scientists, programmers, directors, navigators, designers, dietitians, and seamstresses who contributed to the Apollo 11 moon landing at Air & Space magazine. -via Smithsonian
(Image credit: NASA)