20 Years Ago: Remembering Robert Gilruth

Aug. 17 marks 20 years since the passing of Robert R. Gilruth, a major driving force behind NASA’s successes in its early years, including the first landing on the Moon in 1969. As the first director of the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, now NASA’s Johnson Space Center, he not only oversaw the design and construction of NASA’s center for the training of astronauts and the control of human spaceflights, but also was instrumental in the development of the first three American human spaceflight programs that led to the achievement of President John F. Kennedy’s goal of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth before the end of the 1960s.

Left: Robert Gilruth as a NACA employee in 1946. Middle: Gilruth (eighth from right) during a meeting of NACA's Special Committee on Space Technology at Langley in May 1958. Right: Gilruth (far right) showing the seven Mercury astronauts their form-fitting couches at Langley in 1959. Credits: NASA

Gilruth was born in Nashwauk, Minnesota, on Oct. 8, 1913. He earned a Bachelor of Science in 1935 and a Master of Science in 1936, both in aeronautical engineering and from the University of Minnesota. Gilruth began his lengthy public service career in January 1937 at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics’ (NACA) Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory in Hampton, Virginia. In 1941, he defined and published the first set of requirements for the handling characteristics of aircraft. Four years later, he established an organization and facility for testing rocket-powered aircraft in Wallops Island, Virginia, which became the Pilotless Aircraft Research Division, then NASA’s Wallops Station launching site — and now is the Wallops Flight Facility. In 1952, Gilruth was named as the assistant director of the Langley Lab.

Left: Gilruth (left) and Mercury astronaut John H. Glenn in conversation at Langley in 1959. Middle left: An STG engineer shows a model of a capsule to (left to right) Charles J. Donlan, Gilruth, and Maxime A. Faget in 1959. Middle right: Paul E. Purser (right) shows Gilruth the Nov. 1, 1961, first edition of the Space News Roundup announcing the STG’s renaming to MSC and relocation to Houston. Right: Gilruth (middle) in March 1962 and six of the seven Mercury astronauts with the sign outside the interim MSC headquarters building in Houston. Credits: NASA

On Oct. 1, 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration opened for business, absorbing several existing NACA facilities, including Langley, which was renamed the Langley Research Center. Just five weeks later, NASA created the Space Task Group (STG), charged with putting an American in space before the Soviet Union, placing Gilruth in charge. 

The work of the STG led to the creation of Project Mercury that put America’s astronauts into space, first on suborbital flights and, eventually, into orbit. Following President Kennedy’s announcement of the Moon-landing goal, and with the additional work, the STG outgrew its facilities at Langley. Following an extensive site evaluation and selection process, on Sept. 19, 1961, NASA announced that the STG would be relocated to Houston. On Nov. 1, the STG was renamed the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC), with Gilruth as its director.

Left: President John F. Kennedy (left) presents Gilruth with the President’s Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service at the White House in August 1962. Middle: Gilruth (right) in his office at MSC’s temporary headquarters in the Farnsworth-Chambers building in Houston in October 1962, presenting a 30-year service award to Kenneth S. Kleinknecht. Right: Gilruth (second from right) tours MSC’s new site under construction in September 1963. Credits: NASA

While the new facility on Clear Lake was under construction, MSC employees relocated from Virginia and worked out of several leased facilities in southeast Houston. In 1962, Gilruth set up his office in the interim MSC headquarters at the Farnsworth-Chambers Building on S. Wayside Drive, today the home of the Houston Parks and Recreation Department. During this time, six crewed Mercury flights were completed, and planning had begun on two-person Gemini missions to test the critical techniques required to accomplish a Moon-landing mission and the three-person Apollo spacecraft that would take astronauts to the Moon.

 Left: Gilruth (second from left) hosts a delegation of U.S. Air Force officials in his new office on the ninth floor of MSC’s administration building in August 1964. Middle: Gilruth (at left) in the Mission Control Center viewing gallery in June 1965 with Patricia McDivitt (middle) and Patricia White (right), the wives of the Gemini 4 crew (then in orbit during the first mission controlled from the new center). Right: Gilruth (at right) with Christopher C. Kraft and astronaut L. Gordon Cooper in mission control in December 1965, celebrating the successful rendezvous between Gemini 7 and 6. Credits: NASA

With construction still underway, the new MSC site officially opened for business on Feb. 20, 1964, and Gilruth moved into his new office on the ninth floor of the main administration building, at the time called Building 2. The new Mission Control Center was ready to follow the first crewed Gemini mission in March 1965 and, with the flight of Gemini 4 in June, it took over as the nerve center of American human spaceflights — a role it has served ever since.

Gilruth played a critical role in leading the center to ensure the safe completion of the remainder of Project Gemini, and his leadership guided the painful recovery of the Apollo program following the loss of astronauts Virgil I. Grissom, Edward H. White, and Roger B. Chaffee in the Apollo 1 fire.

Left: Gilruth (far right) introduces the Apollo 1 crew of (left to right) Roger Chaffee, Edward White, and Gus Grissom to the press in March 1966. Middle: Gilruth (second from right) during President Lyndon B. Johnson’s visit to MSC in March 1968. Right: Gilruth (at left) in mission control with other NASA senior managers following the successful splashdown of Apollo 8 in December 1968. Credits: NASA

Part of that recovery included the bold decision in August 1968, before a crewed Apollo mission had been flown, to send Apollo 8 on a circumlunar flight in December of that year, a decision that Gilruth supported and advocated to NASA Headquarters. The success of Apollo 8, once and for all, put the United States ahead of the Soviet Union in the race to the Moon and significantly increased the chances of achieving President Kennedy’s goal. 

Left: Gilruth during the Apollo 11 Moon-landing mission in July 1969. Middle: Gilruth (middle) with George Low (at left) and astronaut John Glenn (at right) in mission control, celebrating the successful splashdown of Apollo 11. Right: Gilruth (far right) and Low carry the first box of Moon rocks after arrival in Houston. Credits: NASA

On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 landed on the Moon, and at least the first part of President Kennedy’s goal was met. Gilruth, surrounded by the team that he helped build over the years, all watched from mission control as Neil A. Armstrong took that first step on the lunar surface. They all cheered, four days later, as they watched Apollo 11 splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, meeting the rest of President Kennedy’s goal with the three astronauts safely back on Earth. Two days later, Gilruth and other top NASA managers stood on the tarmac at Ellington Air Force Base near MSC as the first Moon rocks arrived in Houston, beaming with pride and satisfaction as he helped to carry the first box of extraterrestrial material.

  Left: Gilruth (far right) in mission control in April 1970, being briefed on the makeshift carbon dioxide removal system following the accident aboard Apollo 13. Middle: Gilruth (third from right) with Soviet and American delegates during a visit to Star City in October 1970. Right: Gilruth (in brown suit) greeting the Apollo 15 crew aboard the USS Okinawa in August 1971. Credits: NASA

Gilruth’s next leadership challenge took place in April 1970, after an explosion crippled the Apollo 13 spacecraft on its way to the Moon, endangering the crew. After several days of outstanding teamwork between mission control and the crew onboard, the astronauts splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean.

Looking beyond the Moon-landing missions, Gilruth embarked on negotiations with Soviet counterparts that ultimately led to the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP), the first docking between American and Soviet spacecraft in 1975. One of the lasting legacies from ASTP is a derivative of the docking system designed for that mission is used aboard the International Space Station. In August 1971, instead of watching the splashdown from mission control, Gilruth flew to the USS Okinawa, the prime recovery ship for Apollo 15, to meet the crew returning from the fourth Moon landing.

Left: Gilruth in February 1972 with a model of the boat he was building. Middle left: Gilruth and guests in December 1973 aboard the boat “Outrigger” that he built. Middle right: Gilruth (second from right) in 1991 with three of his successors as JSC director (left to right) Aaron Cohen (1986-1993), Gerald D. Griffin (1982-1986), and Christopher C. Kraft (1972-1982). Right: Bob and Jo Gilruth in 1991. Credits: NASA

On Jan. 14, 1972, NASA Administrator James C. Fletcher announced that he had named Gilruth to the new position of director of Key Personnel Development, with his deputy Christopher C. Kraft succeeding him as MSC director. Although he reported to NASA Deputy Administrator George M. Low at NASA Headquarters, Gilruth remained in Houston. In this new capacity, he was responsible for identifying near- and long-range potential candidates for key positions across the agency. 

He retired from NASA in December 1973, the same month he christened his multi-hull 52-foot sailboat “Outrigger,” a craft he designed and built himself. He remained active as a consultant after retirement, participating in NASA-related activities for many years. He was 86 when he died, survived by his wife Jo and daughter Barbara Jean Wyatt.