Sy Liebergot

Sy Liebergot, author and NASA flight controller during the Apollo and post-Apollo years began his engineering career with North American Aviation in Downey, CA before graduating from California State University-Los Angeles with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering in 1963. His space career began at North American at the very inception of the Apollo lunar program when he joined a newly formed Flight Operations Group. In 1964, he transferred to Houston, Texas as a member of the Flight Operations Group in support of NASA Mission Operations at the Manned Spacecraft Center, which had just opened. Mr. Liebergot switched over to NASA after about a year to qualify for a “front room” flight controller position in the mission control center in order to “get in on the action.” He became a veteran flight controller of many flights serving as Operations and Procedures Officer on AS-202, as Assistant Flight Director On AS-501 (the first Saturn V launch), and as EECOM (Electrical, Environmental, Consumables) Flight Controller on Apollo missions 8 - 15. Sy was the Lead EECOM Flight Controller for Apollo missions 12 - 15 and an EGIL (Skylab EECOM) for all of the Skylab program missions. On the international scene, he was the Lead EECOM for the American-Russian Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) mission. He contributed his experience to early shuttle missions and to the space station design. Sy was at the focal point of the crisis on Apollo 13 when the spacecraft oxygen tank exploded. He has advised and contributed to several books concerning Apollo 13 including the movie, Apollo 13; and was the technical adviser for an archival multi-media CD-ROM entitled Apollo 13, A Race Against Time, which is devoted to the Apollo 13 mission. He has appeared in the PBS NOVA series, the History Channel Modern Marvels, and the acclaimed Public Broadcast System documentary Apollo 13, To The Edge and Back. He served as the on-camera host for a space documentary entitled In the Shadow of the Moon, produced by the CBS affiliate in Austin, Texas. He recently has published his autobiography entitled Apollo EECOM: Journey Of A Lifetime. As part of the Apollo 13 Operations Team, Sy was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He also received the NASA Commendation Award for his leadership role in the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project international space mission. He has also been honored as Distinguished Alumnus of his alma mater’s School of Engineering and Technology. Mr. Liebergot was employed by Spacehab Inc. where, as a Senior Project Engineer, he has designed astronaut neutral buoyancy trainers for the International Space Station (ISS) Sy was also a Senior ISS Configuration Management Analyst and is now retired, spending his time lecturing and teaching.

Broadcast 1191 (Special Edition)

Guest: Sy Liebergot. Topics: Apollo, NASA Flight Controllers, NASA risk aversion, NASA Administrators, school lectures. Sy Liebergot returned to The Space Show to discuss his book by Apogee, "Apollo EECOM: Journey Of A Lifetime." This book will be available on the One Giant Leap Foundation book page, www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/books.htm. By purchasing this book through this link, Amazon contributes to The Space Show/One Giant Leap Foundation, Inc.

Broadcast 1119 (Special Edition)

Guest: Sy Liebergot. Topics: NASA Flight Controller, space station, Return to the Moon, exploration, education. Sy Liebergot returned to The Space Show to talk about the newly released second edition of his book, "Apollo EECOM: Journey of a lifetime," published by Apogee. Sy was the lead EECOM Flight Controller throughout the Apollo manned missions and the book tells his story with lots of experiences and personal insights.

Broadcast 319

Sy Liebergot returned to The Space Show for this program to discuss his book, "Apollo EECom: Journey of a Lifetime" as well as timely topics regarding space development. Among the topics discussed was the International Space Station (ISS), the Space Exploration Vision program, the new NASA Administrator, Congress, budgets, and the NASA culture. Return to flight was discussed as was the CEV, heavy lift, and the time table for getting back to the Moon and going on to Mars. Mr. Liebergot was not optimistic about realizing the new vision and you will want to hear his reasoning.

Broadcast 170 (Special Edition)

Sy Liebergot, noted author and retired NASA flight controller for Apollo and post-Apollo years was the guest on The Space Show for this program. Mr. Liebergot discussed his unique experiences growing up which helped him in his position as an Apollo flight controller, especially in emergency conditions such as when he was in the hot seat for the safe return of the Apollo 13 astronauts. Sy takes us inside the mind of an Apollo flight controller as well as the working of NASA during this golden period in its history.

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