Milton "Milt" Windler (born January 10, 1932 in Hampton, Virginia) is a retired NASA

Flight Director Flight controllers are personnel who aid space flight by working in such Mission Control Centers as NASA's Mission Control Center or ESA's European Space Operations Centre. Flight controllers work at computer consoles and use telemetry t ...

. He is best known for his work as one of the four flight directors of

Apollo 13 Mission Operations Team Apollo 13 (April 1117, 1970) was the seventh crewed mission in the Apollo space program and the third meant to land on the Moon. The craft was launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 11, 1970, but the lunar landing was aborted aft ...

, all of whom were awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President

Richard M. Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was t ...

for their work in guiding the crippled spacecraft safely back to Earth. Previously a jet fighter pilot, he began working at NASA in 1959 during Project Mercury. Originally working in the recovery division, he was promoted to flight director by Chris Kraft to support

Eugene Kranz Eugene Francis "Gene" Kranz (born August 17, 1933) is an American aerospace engineer who served as NASA's second Chief Flight Director, directing missions of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs, including the first lunar landing mission, Apo ...

, who had acquired additional responsibilities in the months following the Apollo 1 fire. Windler also served as flight director for

Apollo 8 Apollo 8 (December 21–27, 1968) was the first crewed spacecraft to leave low Earth orbit and the first human spaceflight to reach the Moon. The crew orbited the Moon ten times without landing, and then departed safely back to Earth. These ...

, Apollo 10, Apollo 11,

Apollo 14 Apollo 14 (January 31, 1971February 9, 1971) was the eighth crewed mission in the United States Apollo program, the third to land on the Moon, and the first to land in the lunar highlands. It was the last of the " H missions", landings at s ...

Apollo 15 Apollo 15 (July 26August 7, 1971) was the ninth crewed mission in the United States' Apollo program and the fourth to Moon landing, land on the Moon. It was the first List of Apollo missions#Alphabetical mission types, J mission, with a ...

, and all three Skylab missions. Following the conclusion of the Apollo Program, Windler worked in the Space Shuttle Project Office on Remote Manipulator Systems Operations until 1978. He is a recipient of the NASA Exceptional Service Medal.

References

Sources

''Failure Is Not an Option: Mission Control from Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond''
Gene Kranz, Simon and Schuster, 2000,

External links

New Mexico State University Apollo 14 Commemoration
{{DEFAULTSORT:Windler, Milton Living people NASA people Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients 1932 births