Bob Gordon

Bob Gordon was there at the beginning of the human space flight program. Hired by Shorty Powers as a public information specialist while the group was still at NASA’s Langley Research Center, Gordon transferred to NASA’s Johnson Space Center as soon as it existed but under its old name of Manned Spacecraft Center.

Gordon helped create and produce many of the standard fact sheets and press kits throughout the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs. He was a frequent worker at the cape and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center where he assisted the media with information about the astronauts, hardware, software and procedures.

He was honored a number of times by NASA with Group Achievement Awards, Sustained Superior Achievement Awards and the Exceptional Service Medal.

As the space shuttle began to fly, Gordon went to work for its prime contractor Rockwell International as media manager for its Space Division in Downey, Calif. To prepare the nation’s journalists, many of whom would never get a chance to attend a launch, he led a team of shuttle experts on a national tour to brief news media.

He later transferred to the Kennedy area where he was Rockwell’s principal spokesman and technical representative at the launch site.

In 1984, he joined Martin Marietta and was responsible for their customer and public relations program at Kennedy and the cape.

He passed away in 1995.

Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1926, Gordon cut his teeth on public relations as a public relations specialist for Madison Square Gardens. He entered the army in 1951 during the Korean War and served as writer for the military newspaper the Pacific Stars and Stripes.

Following military service he worked for the Richmond Times-Dispatch for nine years before joining NASA.