Apollo 13 rescue flight director Milt Windler dies aged 94
Milt Windler, a NASA flight director who helped guide the rescue of Apollo 13’s crew, has died aged 94. He was one of four Mission Control leaders who directed the round-the-clock response after an explosion crippled the spacecraft, shifting the mission from a planned lunar landing to getting the astronauts safely home.
Appointed a flight director in 1968, Windler also led teams for Apollo 8, Apollo 10, Apollo 12, Apollo 14 and Apollo 15, and all three crewed Skylab missions. During Apollo 13, he and fellow flight director Gerry Griffin helped assess options for firing the lunar module’s engine to return the spacecraft to Earth. Windler later recalled that the rapid pace of the Apollo programme left little time to reflect on making history.
- Milt Windler, a key Apollo 13 flight director, has died aged 94.
- He helped lead the effort to bring the crippled spacecraft home.
- His career also included Apollo missions and all three crewed Skylab flights.
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Apollo 13 was a 1970 NASA mission intended to land astronauts on the Moon. An explosion damaged the spacecraft on the way there, so the mission became an effort to bring the crew safely back to Earth.
NASA’s flight directors led teams in Mission Control, where specialists monitored the spacecraft and worked out what to do. Milt Windler was one of four flight directors who shared responsibility for the response, including assessing how the lunar module’s engine could help the crew return.
Apollo 13’s safe return depended on decisions made by the astronauts and the teams on the ground. Windler also directed teams on several other Apollo missions and all three crewed Skylab missions, part of NASA’s early human spaceflight programme.
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Originally published by Ars Technica as “Milt Windler, NASA flight director who helped save Apollo 13, dies at 94”.