NASA Space Administrator. He was the voice of NASA's Gemini and Apollo space programs during the 1960s. A graduate of Kent State University in 1949, he began his career as a journalist with the Associated Press before working for newspapers in Erie, Pennsylvania; Memphis, Tennessee; and Washington, D.C. In 1958, he joined NASA as an information officer shortly following the Russian launch of Sputnik in 1957, before becoming the space agency's first News Director from 1960 to 1962. The following year he was transferred to Houston, where he served as Chief of Public Affairs for the Manned Spacecraft Center (Now the Johnson Space Center). From 1965 to 1969, he became known to millions of television viewers as the "Voice of Mission Control," providing real-time launch commentary and flight analysis on the Gemini and Apollo space missions. He retired from the agency on April 25, 1969, following internal disagreements within NASA over information disclosure. His resignation came three months before Apollo 11's historic manned lunar landing on July 20, 1969, Haney's 41st birthday. Following his career at NASA, he went on to work for the Independent Television News (ITN) network in London, and the Economist news magazine, before returning to a newspaper career in Houston, Texas; Charleston, South Carolina; St. Petersburg, Florida; and El Paso, Texas. In 1993, he was inducted as a member into the International Space Hall of Fame. He died in a New Mexico nursing home from brain cancer at the age of 80.
NASA Space Administrator. He was the voice of NASA's Gemini and Apollo space programs during the 1960s. A graduate of Kent State University in 1949, he began his career as a journalist with the Associated Press before working for newspapers in Erie, Pennsylvania; Memphis, Tennessee; and Washington, D.C. In 1958, he joined NASA as an information officer shortly following the Russian launch of Sputnik in 1957, before becoming the space agency's first News Director from 1960 to 1962. The following year he was transferred to Houston, where he served as Chief of Public Affairs for the Manned Spacecraft Center (Now the Johnson Space Center). From 1965 to 1969, he became known to millions of television viewers as the "Voice of Mission Control," providing real-time launch commentary and flight analysis on the Gemini and Apollo space missions. He retired from the agency on April 25, 1969, following internal disagreements within NASA over information disclosure. His resignation came three months before Apollo 11's historic manned lunar landing on July 20, 1969, Haney's 41st birthday. Following his career at NASA, he went on to work for the Independent Television News (ITN) network in London, and the Economist news magazine, before returning to a newspaper career in Houston, Texas; Charleston, South Carolina; St. Petersburg, Florida; and El Paso, Texas. In 1993, he was inducted as a member into the International Space Hall of Fame. He died in a New Mexico nursing home from brain cancer at the age of 80.
Bio by: Nils M. Solsvik Jr.
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