Go, Flight! ─ The Unsung Heroes of Mission Control, 1965-1992

The talented men (and later women) who worked in mission control at what is now Johnson Space Center occupied a room located on the third floor of Building 30, a room that at first glance looked like just another auditorium in just another government building but would eventually become known by many as “the Cathedral.” These members of the space program were the brightest of their generation, making split-second decisions that determined the success or failure of a mission. The flight controllers, each supported by a staff of specialists, were the most visible part of the operation, running the missions, talking to the heavens, troubleshooting issues on board, and, ultimately, attempting to bring everyone safely back home.

None of NASA’s storied accomplishments would have been possible without these people. Interviews with dozens of individuals who worked in the historic third-floor mission control room bring the compelling stories to life. Go, Flight! is a real-world reminder of where we have been and where we could go again given the right political and social climate. This paperback edition includes a new epilogue by the authors about making the documentary Mission Control: The Unsung Heroes of Apollo.

Rick Houston is a journalist with twenty years of experience and the associate producer and consultant for the documentary film Mission Control: The Unsung Heroes of Apollo. He is the author of Wheels Stop: The Tragedies and Triumphs of the Space Shuttle Program, 1986–2011 (Nebraska, 2013). Milt Heflin worked for NASA for nearly half a century, including on the prime recovery ships during splashdown and post-landing activities for Apollo 8, Apollo 10, Apollo 16, Apollo 17, each of the three Skylab flights, and the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. He later became a flight director who led the mission control team during the Space Shuttle flight to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. John Aaron is a legendary former flight controller.