Guenter Wendt
| Guenter Wendt | |
|---|---|
Wendt in the Friendship 7 white room
|
|
| Born |
Günter F. Wendt August 28, 1923 Berlin, Germany |
| Died | May 3, 2010 (aged 86) Merritt Island, Florida, U.S. |
| Nationality | German |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Engineering career | |
| Discipline | Mechanical engineering |
| Practice name | Launch pad leader |
| Employer(s) |
McDonnell Aircraft, North American Rockwell |
| Projects | Apollo, Skylab |
Günter F. Wendt (August 28, 1923 – May 3, 2010, also spelled Guenter Wendt) was a German-American engineer noted for his work in the U.S. manned spaceflight program. An employee of McDonnell Aircraft and later North American Aviation, he was in charge of the spacecraft close-out crews at the launch pads for the entire Mercury and Gemini programs (1961–1966), and the manned phase of the Apollo program (1968–1975) at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). His official title was Pad Leader.
In NASA documentary films, Wendt appears as the bespectacled, thin man in a bow-tie and white cap and coat, usually standing near the hatch, clipboard in hand; or bending over seated crew members, pulling their safety harnesses snug for launch.
A native of Berlin, Germany, Wendt studied mechanical engineering and then fought for Nazi Germany during World War II, serving as a flight engineer aboard Luftwaffe night fighters. He also completed a four-year apprenticeship during the war learning aircraft building.
After the Allied victory, there were few job opportunities for engineers in Germany under the Occupation, so Wendt decided to emigrate to the United States in 1949 and joined his divorced father in St. Louis, Missouri. Defense contractor McDonnell Aircraft was interested in employing Wendt as an engineer, but could not hire a German citizen since the company was working on U.S. Navy contracts. Wendt found a job as a truck mechanic (though he had never worked on trucks) and within one year became shop supervisor. He obtained his U.S. citizenship in 1955 and shortly thereafter was hired by McDonnell.
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