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George Mueller

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An American engineer who served as NASA's Associate Administrator for the Office of Manned Space Flight from 1963 to 1969. He introduced the all-up testing philosophy for the Saturn V, testing complete rocket stages simultaneously rather than incrementally, an approach historians credit with keeping the Apollo program on schedule to meet its 1969 lunar-landing deadline.

Facts
Birth Date
1918-07-16 1
Death Date
2015-10-12 1
Nationality
American 1
Defining Contribution
As NASA's Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight (1963-1969), introduced the all-up testing strategy for the Saturn V, over initial resistance from Wernher von Braun's Marshall Space Flight Center engineering team, a decision historians credit with keeping Apollo on schedule for the 1969 Moon landing. 1
Marshall's own engineers favored the traditional incremental, stage-by-stage flight-test approach; see the dissent recorded on this fact.
Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

Introduced all-up testing for the Saturn V used throughout Project Apollo.

NASA, Space Agencies and Companies

NASA Associate Administrator for the Office of Manned Space Flight, 1963-1969.

Sources
1. Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Wikimedia FoundationGeorge Mueller (NASA), NASA and the Apollo program section
Quote, George Mueller (NASA), NASA and the Apollo program section
It sounded reckless, but George Mueller's reasoning was impeccable.
1. Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Wikimedia FoundationGeorge Mueller (NASA), infobox
1. Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: NASA, George Mueller (NASA), lead section
Dissenting Readings (1 dissenting reading)
Defining Contribution

Marshall's own engineers favored the traditional incremental, stage-by-stage flight-test approach used on earlier US rockets and initially resisted Mueller's all-up strategy of testing complete, live rocket stages together as too risky for an unproven vehicle. Mueller overruled the objection, and the all-up approach was used for every Saturn V test flight.

A dissenting reading, from a reviewerWikipedia (space and spaceflight articles), Wikimedia Foundation
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