- We lived, we grew up in Wilkes Barre, right off of Care Avenue.

And we lived there for several years.

I went in the army after I graduated college at The University of Scranton.

And I went to Triple A and got in missile school in Fort Bliss, Texas.

And I studied, I studied all the different kinds of of launch for, to take down a satellite, and also field artillery stuff, and different types, projectile.

Then what happened, was Sputnik hit, and the country was shaken.

I read the paper about this new agency.

It's gonna counter Sputnik.

NASA was formed.

Eisenhower starts NASA, 1958.

All those years, worked on Apollo.

- [Recording] Okay Houston, we've had a problem here.

- Glynn Lunney went and worked for Chris Kraft.

That if it were not for him with the CO2 problem, Apollo 13 and my friend and roommate, Jack Swigert, they would've died.

I talked to Jack after he landed, and I said to him, "Jack, was that CO2 problem as bad as it's it's proclaimed?"

He said, "Tom," he said, "I was already lightheaded."

He said, "I was already squinting at the board."

He said, "I don't know if I could have taken another five, 10 minutes.

I would've been gone."

He said, "That was only the start."

I think now, the magnificent thing of that thing, Lunney's team worked all night after they called and said, "We got a CO2 leak."

Lunney took his people into a room.

The guys that worked for him.

And I remember, they had to put together a remedy from anything on the spacecraft 'cause they had nothing else.

It was that close.

But if that failed, the mission failed.

And if that worked, then the mission could go on.

And the mission did go on.

So, but, that's why I always take the position that Lunney saved it, because his crew and Glynn had a great bunch of guys, and total respect.

Whatever he said was the way... beautiful guy, beautiful guy.

I thought he never got the credit.

He should have won the highest medal NASA had, but the people in the MIS control knew who made it happen.

Then Nixon had to make a decision, because there was a whole advocacy for space station at that time.

Okay.

That we'd have a facility up in space that we could do testing and all that stuff with, but they didn't have any way to get there, okay.

Because Apollo launches were too expensive.

So we pushed for a vehicle.

And the president made a decision after getting the review done, to build a launch vehicle first, and then build the station.

I then worked on winning shuttle, which was, it was called "Shuttle."

I was one of the people in charge of competitive analysis.

I had to give a analysis to the higher ups, chief engineer and others, of what I thought the competition was.

I would say it's out there, and the inquisitive nature of man is going to see what's out there.

(dramatic music)