Biography

Guenter Wendt was born on August 28, 1923 in Berlin, Germany. He is known for From the Earth to the Moon (1998), Our World (1986) and HBO First Look (1992). He was married to Herma Riggert. He died on May 3, 2010 in Merritt Island, Florida, USA.

He was in charge at the Cape Canaveral launch pad for most of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions. He was often the last person the astronauts saw before the hatch was closed.

Before the Apollo 11 launch in July 1969, he gave Neil Armstrong a "key to the moon" carved out of Styrofoam.

[on what was going through his mind before the historic Apollo 11 mission] You are not thinking 'They are going to the moon'. [You are thinking] 'I got 148 items that must be completed' [before launch].