A flight research engineer with the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (or NACA, the forerunner to NASA), Gilruth led research into rocket-powered aircraft in the 1940s and 50s and helped develop the Wallops Island, Va., rocket launch facility. Gilruth also led the team that developed the Mercury rocket series, the Gemini spacecraft, and in 1961 became the first director of the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas (now known as the Johnson Space Center).
During his 10-year tenure there, he directed missions from Alan Shepard’s first Mercury flight in 1961 through the Apollo 15 moon landing in 1971. “There were many heroes during the early days of the space program, but Bob Gilruth was the most respected of them all,” said Chris Kraft, the Director of Flight Operations during the Apollo era. “Personally, I had a higher regard for Gilruth than any other person in my lifetime.” Gilruth retired from NASA in 1973. He died August 17 from Alzheimer’s disease, at 86.