Biography

Chris Kraft, who joined NASA in 1958, developed the planning and control processes for crewed space missions. He set up NASA's Mission Control operations to manage America's first manned space flight and the subsequent Apollo missions to the Moon. The first flight director of US space agency NASA. He went on to join the federal National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics - NASA's predecessor - at Langley, a few miles from his home in Virginia. Assigned to the Flight Research Division, he contributed to programs which included evaluating the flying qualities of aircraft and tests to measure supersonic aerodynamics.

In 2006, NASA honored Kraft for his crucial work in America's space programs with the Ambassador of Exploration Award, given to astronauts and other key individuals who participated in the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs between 1961 and 1972. NASA named its mission control building at the Johnson Space Center in Houston the Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center, in 2011.
- IMDb mini biography by: Anonymous

Legendary flight director, aerospace consultant, and Director of the Johnson Space Center in Houston (January 1972 - August 1982).

As key flight controller position for all the Mercury missions and the first half of the Gemini program, Kraft made the final decision on whether a rocket would take off, what happened while the crew was in space and when they should come down.

In 1995, a review panel chaired by Dr. Kraft proposed that NASA's space shuttle program should eventually be transferred to the private sector as the best way to improve efficiency and reduce costs.

His right hand was accidentally burned in a fire when he was a child. This injury prevented him from enlisting in the military during WWII. He attended Virginia Tech, where he studied aeronautical engineering. He went to work at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) flight research division at Langley, Virginia. NACA became NASA in 1958.

If costs are not cut, the [NASA space] shuttle will become extinct. It would have been used for the space station, and it would have become so expensive to operate that nobody else could afford to use it. Now, I think it has a chance of becoming an operational vehicle for a reasonable price. I didn't say it would. I said it has a chance.