Jay Greene - Apollo Program

Apollo Program

Despite the fact that his degree was in electrical engineering, Greene was assigned to the flight dynamics branch and trained to be a Flight Dynamics Officer (FIDO) for the upcoming Apollo program. His responsibilities in Mission Control would include monitoring the trajectory of the Apollo spacecraft, computing changes in orbit, and plotting course corrections and adjustments.

His first shift as a flight controller was during the launch of the unmanned Apollo 6. The launch turned out to be a memorable one, as two engines cut out on the second stage of the Saturn V booster less than five minutes after lift-off. Although the mission was not aborted, it was a challenging launch for the Flight Dynamics officer—the spacecraft diverged from its intended trajectory so severely that Greene was nearly forced to call an abort.

In 1969, Greene was chosen to work the descent shift for Apollo 11, the first lunar landing. This was a coveted and prestigious assignment, showing the esteem in which he was held by his superiors. Flight Director Gene Kranz, who also worked the descent shift, described Greene as "elite in the ranks of the FIDOs, cocky and crisp with his calls."

During the Apollo 13 crisis, Greene played a less major role. Unlike many other flight controllers, most notably Gene Kranz, he was not positive about the astronauts' chance of survival. "A lot of them in retrospect will tell you how macho and cool ," he said in an interview some years later, "but it was pretty grim." Greene later stated that "when they opened up that capsule, I was sure all they would find would be three dead bodies. I honestly didn't see how we could get them home."

Greene was a FIDO on Apollo 6 through 17, excluding Apollo 9.