Make it so. In this image, Christopher Kraft works at his console inside the Flight Control area at Mercury Mission Control. Kraft joined the NASA Space Task Group in November 1958 as NASA's first flight director, with responsibilities that immersed him in mission procedures and challenging operational issues. He personally invented the mission planning and control processes required for crewed space missions, in areas as diverse as go/no-go decisions, space-to-ground communications, space tracking, real-time problem solving and crew recovery. During the Apollo program, Kraft became the Director of Flight Operations at NASAJohnson Space Center (known as the Manned Spacecraft Center until 1973). His leadership in this critical area continued through the Apollo 12 mission in 1969, at which time he became deputy director of the Center. He served as the center director from January 1972 until his retirement in August 1982, playing a vital role in the success of the final Apollo missions...