Nation: The Groundling Who Won

AMONG the thousands of groundlings who worked to make Apollo 8 a success, the person most responsible for the flight was a Vienna-born engineer named George Low, who is little known outside the NASA community. Low's title is that of manager of the Apollo spacecraft program, and as such he was in charge of making certain that all the essential hardware, from the spaceship structure down to the smallest switch and relay, was in working order. But Low's role in the Apollo program goes far beyond that: other, higher-ranking officials in NASA agree...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!