{{Short description|American aerospace engineer (1913–2000)}} {{Infobox person |birth_name=Robert Rowe Gilruth | image = Robert_Gilruth_S87-26820.jpg | image_size = | caption = Gilruth at NASA, 1965 | birth_date = {{Birth date|1913|10|08}} | birth_place = [[Nashwauk, Minnesota]], U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2000|8|17|1913|10|08}} | death_place = [[Charlottesville, Virginia]], U.S. | occupation = Director of [[NASA]] Manned Spacecraft Center, now [[Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center]] | alma_mater = [[University of Minnesota]], B.S. 1935, M.S. 1936 | awards= [[File:President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service.png|24px]] [[President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service]] {{small|(1962)}}<br>[[ASME Medal]] {{small|(1970)}} }} '''Robert Rowe Gilruth''' (October 8, 1913 – August 17, 2000) was an American aerospace engineer and an aviation/space pioneer who was the first director of [[NASA]]'s [[Johnson Space Center|Manned Spacecraft Center]], later renamed the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/gilruth/gilruth_obit.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001029033317/http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/gilruth/gilruth_obit.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 29, 2000 |title=Former Manned Spacecraft Center Director Dies |website=[[NASA]] |access-date=January 17, 2017}}</ref>
He worked for the [[National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics]] (NACA) from 1937 to 1958 and its successor NASA, until his retirement in 1973. He was involved with early research into supersonic flight and rocket-powered aircraft, and then with the United States human spaceflight program, including the [[Project Mercury|Mercury]], [[Project Gemini|Gemini]], and [[Apollo program|Apollo]] programs.
==Biography==
===Early life=== Gilruth was born October 8, 1913, in [[Nashwauk, Minnesota]], and moved to [[Duluth]] when he was nine years old. He graduated in 1931 from [[Duluth Central High School]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.duluthaviationinstitute.org/Godfather_to_the_Astronauts.htm |title=Robert Gilruth Inducted into the Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame |website=Duluth Aviation Institute |access-date=January 17, 2017 |archive-date=May 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220519161829/http://duluthaviationinstitute.org/Godfather_to_the_Astronauts.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> As a teenager, Gilruth was fascinated by aeronautics and spent time building model airplanes. He was inspired to pursue a career in the field after reading about NASA's [[Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory]] in Virginia.<ref name="chaikin">{{cite journal |last=Chaikin |first=Andrew |title=Bob Gilruth, the Quiet Force Behind Apollo |url=http://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/quiet-force-behind-apollo-180957788/?webSyncID=c5e04de7-b1c9-64e3-4d19-8a824988ea62&no-ist |access-date=27 July 2016 |journal=[[Air & Space/Smithsonian]] |issn=0886-2257}}</ref> Gilruth received a [[Bachelor of Science]] degree in [[Aeronautical Engineering]] at the [[University of Minnesota]] in 1935, and received his [[Master of Science]] degree in 1936. While there he was a member of the Professional Engineering Fraternity [[Theta Tau]], of which he was later inducted as a Hall of Fame Alumnus.
===Flight test career===
In January 1937 Gilruth was hired at NACA's [[Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory]], where he performed flight research. His research led to the NACA Report R755, ''Requirements for Satisfactory Flying Qualities of an Airplane'', published in 1941, in which he defined a set of requirements for the handling characteristics of an aircraft. Until this point, no set of guidelines for pilots and aircraft designers existed.<ref name=chaikin />
Gilruth also pioneered the recording of data from instruments during flight test, to be later correlated with the pilot's experience.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://history.nasa.gov/monograph12/ch4.htm |title=Monographs in Aerospace History: Flying Qualities |website=[[NASA]] |access-date=January 17, 2017}}</ref> This would go on to become the standard operating procedure.
=== NASA career === [[File:Gilruth-Kennedy-Johnson-model-S62-03989.jpg|thumb|Gilruth presents President [[John F. Kennedy]] with a mounted model of the [[Apollo spacecraft]] in 1962]] [[File:Chaffee-White-Grissom-Gilruth-S66-26354.jpg|thumb|Gilruth (far right) introduces the [[Apollo 1]] crew during a press conference in Houston. From the left are astronauts [[Roger Chaffee]], [[Ed White (astronaut)|Ed White]] and [[Gus Grissom]], 1966.]] Gilruth had been working on [[hypersonic]] missile rockets as the assistant director of the Pilotless Aircraft Research Division of [[National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics|NACA]]. He and his team pushed their superiors to pursue a program to launch satellites into space, but he was rebuffed by administrators. The dynamic quickly changed after the Soviets succeeded in launching Sputnik, and Gilruth became involved in the transition of NACA into [[NASA]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2019}}
When NASA was created, Gilruth became head of the [[Space Task Group]], tasked with putting a man in space before the [[Soviet Union]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2019}}
In 1961, when [[President John F. Kennedy]] announced that America would put a man on the Moon before the end of the decade (the 1960s) and bring him back safely to Earth, Gilruth was "aghast" and unsure that such a goal could be accomplished. He was integral to the creation of the [[Gemini program]], which he advocated as a means for NASA to learn more about operating in space before attempting a lunar landing.<ref name=chaikin />
In 1962, he was awarded the [[President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service]] by President John F. Kennedy.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/asset-viewer/archives/JFKWHP/1962/Month%2008/Day%2007/JFKWHP-1962-08-07-C?image_identifier=JFKWHP-KN-23120 |title=AR7400-E. President John F. Kennedy Presents President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service to Dr. Robert Gilruth}}</ref>
Soon the [[Apollo program]] was born, and Gilruth was made head of the NASA center which ran it, the new Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC) (now the [[Johnson Space Center]]). Gilruth was inducted into the National Space Hall of Fame in 1969 and served as director of the MSC until his retirement in 1972. He was inducted as a member of the inaugural class to the [[International Space Hall of Fame]] in 1976.<ref name=lv>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/29967024/las_vegas_optic/|title=Space Pioneers Enshrined|last1=Locke|first1=Robert|agency=Associated Press|newspaper=Las Vegas Optic|location=Las Vegas, New Mexico|date=October 6, 1976|page=6|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> He oversaw a total of 25 crewed space flights, from [[Mercury-Redstone 3]] to [[Apollo 15]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2019}}
In 1971, Gilruth, along with the Apollo 15 crew, was awarded the [[Collier Trophy]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/30243648/the_el_dorado_times/|title=Apollo 15 astronauts, Gilruth to be honored|newspaper=El Dorado Times|location=El Dorado, Arkansas|last1=Haugland|first1=Vern|agency=Associated Press|via=Newspapers.com|date=March 22, 1972|page=13}}</ref>
In 1992, Gilruth was inducted into the [[International Air & Space Hall of Fame]] at the [[San Diego Air & Space Museum]],<ref>Sprekelmeyer, Linda, editor. ''These We Honor: The International Aerospace Hall of Fame''. Donning Co. Publishers, 2006. {{ISBN|978-1-57864-397-4}}.</ref> in 1994, he was inducted into the [[National Aviation Hall of Fame]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nationalaviation.org/our-enshrinees/gilruth-robert-rowe/ |title=National Aviation Hall of Fame, Biography - Gilruth, Robert Rowe |access-date=2021-01-25 |archive-date=2022-04-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220401135312/https://www.nationalaviation.org/our-enshrinees/gilruth-robert-rowe/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> and in 2015, the [[Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame]] as a posthumous induction.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mnaviationhalloffame.org/inductees/g.html |title=Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame, Inductees - Robert R. Gilruth |access-date=2021-01-25 |archive-date=2022-03-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319185709/http://mnaviationhalloffame.org/inductees/g.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
===Death=== In 2000, Gilruth died in Charlottesville, Virginia, at the age of 86.<ref name="nytobit">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/08/18/us/robert-gilruth-86-dies-was-crucial-player-at-nasa.html |title=Robert Gilruth, 86, Dies; Was Crucial Player at NASA |first=John Noble |last=Wilford |author-link=John Noble Wilford |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=August 18, 2000}}</ref>
== Portrayals in dramas == *''Apollo 11:'' by [[William Mesnik]]. *''[[From the Earth to the Moon (miniseries)|From the Earth to the Moon]]:'' by [[John Carroll Lynch]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/04/03/movies/television-review-boyish-eyes-on-the-moon.html|title=Television Review; Boyish Eyes on the Moon|work=The New York Times|date=April 3, 1998|access-date=August 5, 2018|last1=James|first1=Caryn}}</ref> *''[[Hidden Figures]]:'' [[Kevin Costner]]'s Al Harrison was mainly based on Gilruth.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nasa.gov/modernfigures/faq |title=Modern Figures: Frequently Asked Questions |website=NASA |date=7 January 2017 |access-date=January 17, 2017}}</ref> *''[[First Man (film)|First Man]]:'' by [[Ciarán Hinds]]. *''[[The Right Stuff (TV series)|The Right Stuff]]:'' by [[Patrick Fischler]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons}} {{Portal|Biography| Spaceflight }} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20190413000200/http://naca.central.cranfield.ac.uk/report.php?NID=1994 Requirements for satisfactory flying qualities of airplanes], 1943 NACA report by Robert Gilruth * [https://airandspace.si.edu/research/projects/oral-histories/TRANSCPT/GILRUTH1.HTM Dr. Robert Gilruth], 1986 interview transcript from the [[National Air and Space Museum]] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20190714115753/https://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/gilruth/ Dr. Robert R. Gilruth], 2000 tribute at NASA's Human Space Flight website * [https://web.archive.org/web/20190922042741/http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/gilruth-robert.pdf ''Robert R. Gilruth 1913–2000''], 2003 memoir at the [[National Academy of Sciences]], written by NASA flight director [[Christopher C. Kraft Jr.|Christopher Kraft]] * [https://www.startribune.com/from-minnesota-to-the-moon/226822601/?refresh=true ''From Minnesota to the moon''], 2013 ''[[Star Tribune]]'' article by [[Cirrus Aircraft]] co-founder [[Klapmeier brothers|Dale Klapmeier]] honoring Gilruth's legacy
{{ASME Medal|state=collapsed}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilruth, Robert R.}} [[Category:1913 births]] [[Category:2000 deaths]] [[Category:NASA people]] [[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences]] [[Category:American aerospace engineers]] [[Category:Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society]] [[Category:Collier Trophy recipients]] [[Category:University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering alumni]] [[Category:People from Itasca County, Minnesota]] [[Category:ASME Medal recipients]] [[Category:20th-century American engineers]] [[Category:Recipients of the President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service]] [[Category:National Aviation Hall of Fame inductees]] [[Category:People from Duluth, Minnesota]]