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THOMPSON, Earl (b.1938)

Oral Histories

OH 1608

For the Skylab Oral History Project. NASA flight controller, communications officer, and manager. Childhood in Lufkin, Orange, and Huntington, Tex.; education at Stephen F. Austin State University and Lamar State College of Technology; career as mathematics teacher at Port Neches-Groves High School and in U.S. Air Force; decision to apply for a job at NASA’s Johnson Space Center; career with NASA, including duties on Apollo, Skylab, International Space Station and Space Shuttle programs; problem-solving on Skylab launch; working culture among ground and flight crews, and day-in-the-life description of Skylab mission; creation of “lessons-learned” program during Skylab missions; Skylab’s contributions to space exploration and to science more generally; importance of superior individual leadership to NASA’s success.