Key facts
- Milt Windler, a NASA flight director, died on Thursday at age 94.
- Windler was a leader of Mission Control during the 1970 Apollo 13 mission.
- He was named a NASA flight director in 1968.
- Windler also worked on Apollo 8, 10, 12, 14, and 15 missions.
- He served as flight director for all three crewed Skylab missions.
- Windler was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1970.
Milt Windler, a key NASA flight director who played a crucial role in the Apollo 13 mission's safe return to Earth, has died at the age of 94. Windler passed away on Thursday, surrounded by his family.
Named a flight director in 1968, Windler's career at NASA spanned critical missions. He was involved in recovery operations for the Mercury and Gemini programs, led a flight controller shift for the Apollo 8 and Apollo 10 missions, and oversaw lunar landings for Apollo 12, 14, and 15. He also served as a flight director for all three crewed missions to the Skylab space station.
During the Apollo 13 crisis in 1970, Windler was a lead flight director. He worked with fellow flight directors, including Gerry Griffin, to devise options for firing the lunar module's engine to guide the crippled spacecraft back to Earth after an explosion crippled its service module. Windler noted in a 2006 interview that the rapid pace of the Apollo program meant there was little time for reflection, only the realization later that "we were making history."
Windler was born on January 10, 1932, in Hampton, Virginia. He graduated from Virginia Tech in 1954 with a degree in aeronautical engineering and served in the U.S. Air Force. He worked for NASA's predecessor, NACA, before joining NASA at its Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston.
In recognition of their work on the Apollo 13 mission, Windler and his colleagues in Mission Control were awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Richard Nixon in 1970. Windler also received NASA's Exceptional Service Medal. He and his wife, Betty, had three children and eight grandchildren.