1. Jack Kinzler was a NASA engineer, the former chief of the Technical Services Center at NASA's Lyndon B Johnson Space Center, known within the agency as Mr Fix It.
13 Facts About Jack Kinzler
1. 2.
Jack Kinzler was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal for creating the solar shield that saved Skylab after the original micrometeoroid shield was lost during launch of the station.
3.
Jack Kinzler parlayed his model-building skills into a job with National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics building models for wind tunnel testing.
4.
Jack Kinzler established the Technical Services Division at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, which included approximately 180 technicians skilled in the various tasks required by the space program, including machining and sheet metal work, welding, electronics, modeling, plastics, and electroplating, along with a field test branch.
5.
Jack Kinzler led the Division from 1961 until his retirement in 1977.
6.
Jack Kinzler suggested the Lunar Flag Assembly, a telescoping pole with a horizontal crossbar that would fit inside a hemmed pocket at the top of the flag, making it visible, as if extended in a strong wind.
7.
Jack Kinzler designed the commemorative plaque installed on the Lunar Module for each of the Apollo landing missions.
Related searches
Alan Shepard 8.
Jack Kinzler helped to fabricate the specially modified six-iron golf club head that Apollo 14 astronaut Alan Shepard attached to the handle of a lunar sampling scoop and used to drive two golf balls on the Moon.
9.
Jack Kinzler sought a solution that did not require a dangerous spacewalk by the Skylab crew.
10.
Jack Kinzler's solution was to develop a parasol-like arrangement that could be deployed through an 8-inch square sally port through the hull of the station at the point of the damage.
11.
Jack Kinzler built a prototype using four telescoping fiberglass fishing rods and parachute silk.
12.
Jack Kinzler's design allowed the device to be pushed through the port from the inside of the station and then deployed by activating springs and telescoping tubes.
13.
Jack Kinzler's model convinced the NASA higher-ups, which ordered the plan put into action.