The U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville announced that retired NASA Apollo engineer Craig Sumner has died. The veteran of the Apollo moon landings, the retired space shuttle program, and the first two launches of the new Alabama built “Space Launch System” rockets for Artemis, was recovering from surgery this week when he died, the Center said.
Sumner was central to part one of Alabama Public Radio’s coverage of the space mission of Artemis-2, which sent astronauts around the Moon for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972. NASA called on Sumner to work with the agency’s next generation of rocket engineers. His experience ranged from building the lunar rover “dune buggies” astronauts used during Apollo 15, 16, and 17, as well as propulsion for the space shuttle. His job on Artemis was to consult on the central “core” stage of the “SLS” rocket that gave the vehicle its distinctive orange color.
“I was brought on board as a ‘SME,” a subject matter expert, to work on the thermal protection system and go test what we were going to go fly and make sure it performed and exceeded our expectations,” he said…