"I vonder vere Guenter vent?" - Guenter Wendt dies May 3 at 85

[RoyGBiv]

I missed this the day it happened. Goodbye, Guenter.

May 3, 2010 — Guenter Wendt, the original pad leader for NASA's manned space program who was the last man the Apollo astronauts saw before launching to the moon, died at his home in Merritt Island, Fla., early Monday morning after being hospitalized for congestive heart failure and then suffering a stroke. He was 85.

Reporting to Cape Canaveral as a McDonnell Aircraft Corp engineer working on missile projects soon after gaining his American citizenship in 1955, Wendt, who was born and educated in Berlin, became part of the effort to launch the first U.S. astronauts into space.

As pad leader -- or "pad führer" as the astronauts came to affectionately call him due to his strong German accent and unwavering rules -- Wendt oversaw the spacecraft on the launch pads and all who had access to them to ensure the safety of all those involved.

As he recalled in "The Unbroken Chain," Wendt's memoirs released in 2001, "If you came up to the spacecraft, you didn't touch it without my permission. During emergencies, I wouldn't have time to form a committee. I had to make sure I had the authority to make the decision whenever anything became critical."

http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-050310a.html

http://www.collectspace.com/padleader/home.html

[Warren DeMontague]

1. Kick for the heroes on the ground who made it happen.

Bye, Guenter.

[RoyGBiv]

2. Gorgeous ...

Thanks for adding that.

[SwampG8r]

3. my dad was an engineer for nasa

at the cape, in texas and at the redstone arsenal in alabama
i met mr wendt several times as a child
a very nice man
i even met werner von braun at redstone
also nice
when ever i see a launch go i think of my dad and how he worked to bring em home alive

[RoyGBiv]

4. That's wonderful ...

Your dad was a part of a special group of people, the likes of which we have rarely seen.

Someone gave me the HBO series _From the Earth to the Moon_ this past Christmas, and I'm just now getting around to watching it. I'd seen it when it first aired, but not since. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed it, especially the fact it provides so much focus on what took place on the ground. One of my favorite episodes is the one that dealt with the people who built the LEM.

Anyway, trying to remember the name of the actor who played Guenter (Max Wright, who is absolutely perfect for the role), I stumbled across this story. It's one of those weird coincidences I guess that I started watching this series two days after Mr. Wendt died.

[SwampG8r]

5. i have a what appears to be

gold plated miniature LEM with the apollo II astronauts signatures engraved on it
i think the crew leaders for the lem got them
my dad kept it in his room in a corner not noticeable really
out of respect for his humility i keep it in my room in a quiet corner and i have shown it to only my own family
he won the pacific war in 45 and sent men to space in the 60's
if i had been a real part of what he was part of i would probably crow about it to everyone

they were giants who walked amongst us

[Warren DeMontague]

7. Wow.

Very cool. You must be proud. :patriot:

[Warren DeMontague]

6. "From The Earth To The Moon" is some of the best television of the last.. I don't know, 20 years?

It's hard to say which one is my favorite; "Spider", the one about the building of the LEM, the folks at Grumman, etc. is for sure a good one. I also really like the Apollo 12 one, with Dave Foley as Alan Bean- very funny.

I think my favorite has to be "1968", though- the way it ties the turbulence of that year with the flight of Apollo 8.

That series is a definite keeper.

[Cheap_Trick]

8. Apollo 1 was my favorite episode.

Always makes me cry. But "Is That All There Is" about Apollo 12 is a very close second.

[RoyGBiv]

9. Hard for me to pick too ...

The whole thing is just really, really good stuff. There are so many different perspective, so many ways of telling the story.

I just finished watching "That's All There Is," the one about Apollo 12. I love the fact they did this episode in precisely that manner. It provides an excellent contrast to the well crafted sentimentalism of the episode before it.

Really, if it came right down to it, my "favorite" would be based on what kind of mood I was in at the time I tried to pick it. "1968" would express one kind of mood. (That line, "You just saved 1968" really chokes me up.) "That's All There Is" another. "Galileo Was Right" is another I'm looking forward to seeing again, the one about the geology. I like it for reasons similar to "Spider" episode, highlighting all the work of people from all sorts of disciplines.

[RoyGBiv]

10. Daytime kick