Tom Sanzone – NESC Academy Biography

Tom Sanzone was born in 1946 in Connecticut and received a bachelor of science in electrical engineering from Villanova University in 1968, immediately after which he joined Hamilton Sundstrand at JSC. One of Sanzone’s claims to fame is that he trained Apollo 11 astronaut, Neil Armstrong, and the majority of the other Apollo astronauts, in the use of the company’s Portable Life Support System backpack worn on the moon. Over his 43-year career with NASA, Sanzone earned several awards including the NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal, Rotary National Award for Space Achievement – Stellar Award, NASA Astronaut Silver Snoopy Award, United Technologies Corporation Chairman’s Award, and numerous NASA Group Achievement Awards. He became the company’s Houston engineering manager for the Space Shuttle Extravehicular Mobility Unit (spacesuit and life support system), then served as the general manager of the company’s Houston office for 22 years, before retiring in 2011. Sanzone remains active in the NASA community primarily through external relations support for and consulting services to Hamilton Sundstrand.