On April 11, 1970, the third Apollo moon landing mission was launched successfully from Kennedy Space Center with three crew members aboard. Their objective was to explore the Fra Mauro highlands, a hilly area on the moon thought to contain matter from the impact of a massive object many years ago. However, Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise were not able to reach the intended location, and were forced to turn back after an explosion 200,000 miles away from Earth damaged their spacecraft.
At Mission Control in Houston, personnel on the ground worked diligently to get the astronauts back to Earth safely. As the lead flight controller for all the Apollo space missions, Seymour "Sy" Liebergot was at the focal point of the Apollo 13 crisis and played a prominent role in bringing the crew back home.
On Monday, October 4, Kent State University will host three public events with Liebergot, who will offer insight into decision-making in the U.S. space program, discuss his role in the aborted Apollo 13 moon mission and sign copies of his autobiography Apollo EECOM: Journey of a Lifetime.
Liebergot was the Lead Electrical, Environmental and Consumables Manager (EECOM) Flight Controller throughout all Apollo manned missions and worked on all of the Skylab program missions. When an oxygen tank explosion caused severe damage to the Apollo 13 spacecraft, Liebergot was a member of the team that helped save the lives of Lovell, Swigert and Haise. He was also the Lead EECOM for the American-Russian Apollo-Soyuz Test Project mission and contributed his experience to early shuttle missions and to the space station design. As a senior project engineer, Liebergot directed the design and fabrication of the astronaut neutral buoyancy trainers for the International Space Station.
Liebergot has contributed to several projects concerning Apollo 13, including the film Apollo 13 directed by Ron Howard and the multimedia CD-ROM Apollo 13, A Race Against Time. He appeared in the acclaimed PBS documentary Apollo 13: To the Edge and Back and on the History Channel, the National Geographic Science Channel and the Discovery Channel. For his role on the Apollo 13 operations team, Liebergot was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He also has received the NASA Commendation Award for his leadership role in the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project international space mission. He remains an active booster and international public speaker of NASA's space accomplishments and the importance of a good education.
