You all know what a supporter of the space program I am, and what heroes the early NASA astronauts were to me when I was a boy. But not all the heroes got their names and pictures in the newspapers. Just as important as the astronauts were the NASA engineers who accomplished the miracle of space travel.

One of the most important was Glynn Lunney, who joined NASA in 1963; led the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab and Space Shuttle programs; then spent another 10 years leading spaceflight activities in private industry for Rockwell and United Space Alliance before retiring in 1995. Lunney received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for the Ground Control efforts that brought the ill-fated Apollo 13 team back home to Earth safely.

On Friday, Glynn Lunney died at 84 after a long illness. You might not know his name, but read his obituary and you’ll be amazed at the impact this man had on so many historic landmarks of the space program.