Joseph G. Gavin Jr. (September 18, 1920 – October 30, 2010) was an American engineer responsible for the development of the

Lunar Module The Apollo Lunar Module (LM ), originally designated the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM), was the lunar lander spacecraft that was flown between lunar orbit and the Moon's surface during the United States' Apollo program. It was the first crewed s ...

used in the

Apollo program The Apollo program, also known as Project Apollo, was the United States human spaceflight program led by NASA, which Moon landing, landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969. Apollo followed Project Mercury that put the first Americans in sp ...

, as well as president, chief operating officer and chairman of the executive committee of the

Grumman Corporation The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, later Grumman Aerospace Corporation, was a 20th century American producer of military and civilian aircraft. Founded on December 6, 1929, by Leroy Grumman and his business partners, it merged in 19 ...

.New York Times:Joseph Gavin, Who Helped Put First Man on Moon, Dies at 90;By DOUGLAS MARTIN;Published: November 4, 2010
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/ref> ttp://mitworld.mit.edu/speaker/view/1147 MIT World Speakers;gavin joseph;Joseph Gavin '41, SM'42;NASA web page on history with Grumman and GavinMemorial Tributes: National Academy of Engineering, Volume 15 (2011);Joseph G. Gavin Jr.;by Neil Armstrong
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/ref>[https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-joseph-gavin-20101103-story.html Los Angeles Times:Joseph Gavin dies at 90; former head of aerospace company Grumman;He headed its Apollo lunar module program in the 1960s and was president of the New York company from 1972 to 1985.November 03, 2010] He was director of the Lunar Module program for Apollo. In that capacity he managed the team of 7,500 people which oversaw landing of the lunar module on the Sea of Tranquility on the Moon, on July 20, 1969. He was also critical to saving the

Apollo 13 Apollo 13 (April 1117, 1970) was the seventh crewed mission in the Apollo program, Apollo space program and would have been the third Moon landing. The craft was launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 11, 1970, but the landing was abort ...

mission. Gavin was also in charge of development of

Orbiting Astronomical Observatory The Orbiting Astronomical Observatory (OAO) satellites were a series of four American space observatories launched by NASA between 1966 and 1972, managed by NASA Chief of Astronomy Nancy Grace Roman. These observatories, including the first ...

at Grumman. In 1971, Gavin received

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

's Distinguished Public Service Medal for his role in resolving the Apollo 13 crisis. He was elected to the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academ ...

in 1974 "for leadership in the design and the production of the Apollo Lunar Module".

Neil Armstrong Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aerospace engineering, aeronautical engineer who, in 1969, became the Apollo 11#Lunar surface operations, first person to walk on the Moon. He was al ...

called him a "highly regarded aerospace engineer".

Chronology

* 1920: born on September 18 in

Somerville, Massachusetts Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population of 81, ...

* 1937: graduated

Boston Latin School The Boston Latin School is a Magnet school, magnet Latin schools, Latin Grammar schools, grammar State school, state school in Boston, Massachusetts. It has been in continuous operation since it was established on April 23, 1635. It is the old ...

* 1941: B.S. in

aeronautical engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

* 1942: M.S. in

* 1942–1946: officer with

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

* 1946–1985: career with Grumman ** 1946: joined Grumman, a design engineer ** 1957: chief missile and space engineer at Grumman, in charge of development of

** 1962-1972: Vice President and Director, Lunar Module Program, Project Apollo ** 1974: elected to the

** 1976: president and Chief Operating Officer of Grumman ** 1985: retirement from Grumman * 2010: died on October 30

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gavin, Joseph G. American aerospace engineers 1920 births 2010 deaths Directors of Northrop Grumman MIT School of Engineering alumni Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering People from Somerville, Massachusetts United States Navy personnel of World War II American chief operating officers