posted 05-03-2010 12:32 PM               

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Originally posted by Dodge15:
When we were leaving, we ran into Gunter printing his boarding pass. We only intended speaking with him for a few minutes. He spoke to us for over an hour about his experiences.

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posted 05-03-2010 01:00 PM               

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Originally posted by 1202 Alarm:
The souvenir he will leave in my heart is 10 times worth all the flown memorabilia I'll ever get.

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posted 05-03-2010 03:00 PM               

The Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center is mourning the loss today of the space program's historic Pad Leader, Guenter Wendt. Guenter was in charge of all pad operations prior to launch and ensured the astronauts and spacecraft of the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and early Shuttle missions were ready on launch day. Guenter died early this morning at his Florida home. He was 85.

Several items from Guenter's personal space history collection have been donated to the Cosmosphere and are on display in the Apollo gallery. He has spoken at the Cosmosphere several times and, most recently, participated in the gala Apollo 13 40th anniversary celebration at the Cosmosphere in Hutchinson on April 16 and 17. He also spoke on numerous occasions to student groups from the Cosmosphere who were visiting Kennedy Space Center as part of the Cosmosphere's summer camp program. He was a strong supporter and inspired thousands of students to pursue careers in the space, science, math, engineering and technology fields.

"Guenter was one of the key individuals in America's space program," said Chris Orwoll, President and CEO at the Cosmosphere. "His story of emigrating to the U.S. after World War II, working his way up through the ranks at McDonnell Douglas, and playing such a key part in our space program are inspiring. He was the right person, in the right place, at the right time and was a key element in the success of our Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and Shuttle programs."

"He was inspiring, joyful and loved to challenge young people to be the inventors and thinkers of tomorrow," noted Marisa Honomichl, Vice President of Marketing at the Cosmosphere. "He told me his latest challenge to the engineering students he was speaking with was to develop cold fusion to the point it could be used as the cleanest most efficient form of energy on our planet and then...devise a way for that energy to be transmitted without wires."

Guenter F. Wendt was the "Pad Leader" during the Mercury, Gemini and manned Apollo missions. He was the last person to see the astronauts before they blasted into space. He was born in Germany, came to the U.S. in 1949, and became a citizen in 1955. As soon as he got US citizenship, he was hired as an engineer for McDonnell Aircraft and was given primary responsibility for spacecraft test, checkout, and launch operations for all Mercury and Gemini manned flights. After the 1967 Apollo 1 accident, he was hired by North American Rockwell and oversaw spacecraft launch preparations for all the manned Apollo, Skylab, and Apollo-Soyuz flights. He was in charge of flight crew safety during the Shuttle ALT and all operational flights of the Shuttle until his retirement in 1989.

Wendt came to be regarded as a welcomed good luck figure to mission crews. He joked with crew members and wished them a successful trip as he directed the final procedures before launch. He and the astronauts often exchanged gag gifts while they were in the "White Room," the last place the astronauts were before being sealed in the spacecraft. The Cosmosphere has one of the two remaining White Rooms on display, as well as the gifts astronauts gave to Wendt before the historic Apollo 11 mission.

Wendt's was the final word for the launch tower white room team responsible for loading and securing the mission crews, ensuring that spacecraft instrumentation, switches and controls were correct for launch, and securing the hatch. Nobody touched anything without his permission. In January of 1967, Wendt, still with McDonnell, was supervising the test range in Titusville, Florida. Since NASA changed contractors on the Apollo program to North American Rockwell, he was not involved with the Apollo 1 spacecraft, in which a cabin fire caused the deaths of Gus Grissom, Edward H. White, and Roger Chaffee.

Grissom's backup and replacement on the Apollo 7 flight, Mercury and Gemini veteran Wally Schirra, insisted after the accident on having Wendt back in charge of the pad crew for his flight, and convinced astronaut leader Deke Slayton to get North American to hire him.

Crewmembers of the other Apollo missions shared an equally high regard for Wendt, and he stayed on with the formal Pad Leader title through the end of the Apollo missions. He continued to work at the cape into the early Space Shuttle flights.

Wendt later served as a technical consultant for several TV and movie features and wrote in his biography The Unbroken Chain about his time at NASA. He remained a personal friend of many American astronauts, and is a recipient of NASA's "Letter of Appreciation" award. He was a close friend and supporter of the Cosmosphere and his inspirational nature and vision for the future will be fondly remembered.

posted 05-03-2010 03:02 PM            

Many [30] years later I found myself face to face with Guenter Wendt once again- to have him sign a copy of his book. He wouldn't say it of himself, but in my book, he is still a Legend.

posted 05-03-2010 03:05 PM               

At the 2005 Sims and Hankow autograph show in New Jersey he told me how an African-American gentleman came to the Burbank show in 2004 specifically to see him. The man's father was a custodian at the Cape during the Apollo days, and had always spoken of Guenter with great respect. The son related the father's tale of how Guenter gave the Cape janitors a personal tour of the gantry and the White Room, and he came to Burbank to shake Guenter's hand and say thanks.

Guenter was overwhelmed. He told me how the military brass and the government officials were constantly being toured around all the launch facilities, and said flatly that he never gave a damn about the generals and the Congressmen. The janitors, however, mattered to him, and Guenter wanted to treat them as valued teammates whose work meant as much to the program as his own did.

posted 05-03-2010 04:33 PM               

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Originally posted by Frederic Janik:
Dave, thank you for sharing this story.

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