Speaker Biography

Gerry Griffin

Apollo Flight Director Mission Control

Gerry Griffin is the former Director of NASA’s Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston. His career in the United States space program began in 1960 and has included senior positions in government and industry. At NASA, in addition to his position as Director of the Johnson Space Center, he also served as the Deputy Director of the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida and the Hugh F. Dryden Flight Research Center in California. During NASA’s Apollo program, Gerry was a Flight Director in Mission Control and served in this capacity for ALL of the Apollo manned missions. He was Lead Flight Director for three lunar landing missions: Apollo 12, 15 and 17. During the flight of Apollo 13, Gerry led one of the teams of flight controllers who were responsible for the safe return of the astronauts. Gerry was a technical advisor for the movie Apollo 13. In February 1997, he was also a technical advisor and actor in the movie, Contact, and in September 1997, Gerry worked as a technical advisor for the movie, Deep Impact.