2009 EXCELLENCE AWARD RECIPIENT

Fred Haise
Biloxi, Mississippi

Fred Haise is a former NASA astronaut and one of only 24 people to have flown to the moon.

Haise was born in Biloxi and attended Biloxi High School and Perkinston Junior College, now Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, before graduating with honors in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Oklahoma in 1959.

Fred Haise was one of 19 astronauts selected by NASA in April 1966. He served as backup lunar module pilot for the Apollo 8 and 11 missions, and backup spacecraft commander for the Apollo 16 mission. He was the lunar module pilot on Apollo 13 and has logged 142 hours and 54 minutes in space.

Apollo 13 was scheduled for a 10-day mission to land on the moon in April 1970. Approximately 55 hours into the flight, a catastrophic failure in the service module’s oxygen system changed the focus of the mission from exploring the moon to developing a means to return the crew safely to Earth. Haise and fellow crewmen James A. Lovell and John L. Swigert worked closely with Houston ground controllers to convert the lunar module into an effective lifeboat. Their emergency activation and operation of the lunar module systems conserved both electrical power and water in sufficient supply to assure their safety and survival while in space and for the return to Earth. Americans huddled around their television sets desperate for news about the astronauts and praying for their safe return. The crew returned home to a hero’s welcome and were honored with the Presidential Medal for Freedom.

Haise continued working at NASA and assisted in the design of the space shuttle. He became the first pilot to fly the Space Shuttle Enterprise off the back of a Boeing 747 airplane and land it safely as part of the Approach and Landing Test Program at Edwards Air Force Base.

In 1979, Haise joined Grumman Aerospace Corporation as vice president of space programs. He remained with the company, serving in succeeding assignments, before retiring in 1996 as president of Northrop Grumman Technical Services. He was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1997.

His latest mission has Haise engaged in developing the next generation of American scientists and technology innovators. He serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the INFINITY Science Center a $42 million state-of-the-art interactive science center scheduled to open next year in Hancock County. Haise hopes INFINITY will spark an interest in thousands of students who will meet our nation’s critical need for scientists, engineers and technicians.

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