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Guenter and Liberty Bell 7
Of German origin, Guenter Wendt was the legendary “pad leader” for the Apollo programme and as such ruled over the “White Room”, the room which gives access to the spaceship, with a professionalism unanimously acknowledged by the astronauts. A true enthusiast of astronautics, he worked with actor Tom Hanks on the TV series “From the Earth to the Moon” which recounts the saga of the Apollo programme and took part in the sea recovery operations for the Mercury Liberty Bell 7 capsule (visible behind him) in 1999. Guenter Wendt died recently on 3 May 2010 at the age of 85 in his home on Florida’s Merritt Island, not far from the Kennedy Space Center.
Credit: NASA

Editor’s blog on Guenter Wendt

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