{"id":20340,"date":"2026-10-04T12:02:42","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T12:02:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.theck1.no\/?p=20340"},"modified":"2026-10-04T12:02:42","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T12:02:42","slug":"milt-windler-nasa-flight-director-who-helped-save-apollo-13-dies-at-94","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.theck1.no\/?p=20340","title":{"rendered":"Milt Windler, NASA flight director who helped save Apollo 13, dies at 94"},"content":{"rendered":"

AI-rewritten:<\/strong> This is a summary of an article from Ars Technica, rewritten by AI (Qwen, running locally) to make it easier to read. The facts come from the original article – read it for the full story.<\/p>\n

Ars Technica •
\n Robert Pearlman
\n • October 3, 2026<\/strong><\/div>\n\n

Milt Windler, a NASA flight director who led efforts during the Apollo 13 mission, has died at age 94. He passed away on Thursday surrounded by his family. Windler was named a flight director in 1968 after working on recovery operations for the Mercury and Gemini programs. He later led shifts for Apollo 8, Apollo 10, and the first four moon landings, as well as all three crewed Skylab missions. In 2006, he told an interviewer that the rapid pace of the Apollo program meant people rarely had time to think about it, though history has since become clearer.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Windler became known as "Maroon Flight," a team name chosen by flight directors. On his first mission, Apollo 8, he secretly prepared red and blue flannel banners with the number "1" on them to wave at Soviet space race adversaries during the trans-lunar injection burn. However, Windler wrote in a 2020 letter that the display was deemed inappropriate because the mission was only half over, so American flags were used instead. Later, Windler and his colleagues received a dramatic reminder not to celebrate until astronauts safely landed on Earth following an explosion in the Apollo 13 service module that vented oxygen into space.<\/p>\n

Windler developed real-time flight planning systems for Skylab to accommodate scientific events like solar activity. After retiring from NASA, he worked on the space shuttle and the development of the Canadarm robotic arm before consulting on operations and verification procedures for the International Space Station. Born in 1932 in Virginia, Windler graduated with a degree in aeronautical engineering and served in the Air Force Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Richard Nixon in 1970. A memorial service is scheduled at his family’s former church in Friendswood, Texas.<\/p>\n

\n

Source:<\/strong> Ars Technica •
\n Robert Pearlman
\n • October 3, 2026<\/p>\n

Read the original article at Ars Technica →<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AI-rewritten: This is a summary of an article from Ars Technica, rewritten by AI (Qwen, running locally) to make it easier to read. The facts come from the original article – read it for the full story. Ars Technica • Robert Pearlman • October 3, 2026 Milt Windler, a NASA flight director who led efforts<\/p>\n

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