SXSWORLD

SXSW.COM | F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 9 | SXS W O R L D 2 3 In the 1960s and '70s, Griffin was one of a few flight directors who supervised ground control crews in 24/7 alternating shifts during the Apollo missions. Each crew consisted of specialists who monitored spe- cific aspects of the mission, such as its flight path, the spacecraft's life support systems, guidance and navigation, and the vital signs of the astronauts. These experts all reported to the flight director, who was the final decision-maker. "To this day if anybody asks me, the best job I ever had in the world was being a flight director at mission con- trol," Griffin said. "It was a hoot, and it was a big responsibility, but every- body in there was kind of like that ... it was how they were wired. The DNA was such that challenges were what drove you." Both Duke and Griffin remember a work environment at NASA during the Apollo missions that was very busy, but also always professional and cor- dial, filled with people who kept calm even when astronauts' lives were in danger, and aborted missions or even catastrophes loomed. "That room [the mission control room] no matter what happened was always disciplined until the guys stepped out onto the deck of the carrier [returning astronauts splashed down in the ocean and were picked up by U.S. Navy aircraft car- riers]," explained Griffin. "Then we got to relax and have some fun." "Mission Control were the unsung heroes of the Apollo program," Duke said. "They saved the day on just about every Apollo mission." Both men were in mission control during Apollo 11's epochal "one small step" moment on July 20, 1969. On lunar descent, the astronauts were nearly out of fuel, seconds away from having to abort the mission within feet of the moon after eight years of effort, when the decision was made to land. "There was one comment made by Buzz Aldrin that to this day when I think of it, it gives me chills," Griffin said. "Intermixed in all of these comments [technical reports from mission control officers] he got to a point where he said, 'We're picking up some dust,' and I thought, 'Good golly, we've got an engine blowing dust off the moon and he's seeing that, and we're that close after all these years that we're blowing dust with the descent engine.'" It was very exciting personally for me. I didn't say anything about it at the time but I remember thinking, 'Good golly, we're there.' " The "Apollo 50: Celebrating the Past to Awaken the Future" Featured Session is part of the Intelligent Future Track at SXSW 2019. See schedule.sxsw.com for more details. "[It was] untouched, unspoiled. I never got tired of just looking around the moon." Charlie Duke. Courtesy of NASA on The Commons

• Cover