NASA Engineer Inspires SPIRAL Students

Former NASA engineer Jerry Woodfill was among the first to hear the Apollo 13 crew’s call for help, “Houston, we’ve had a problem.” Today, he reaches out to students to help them reach for the stars in their own lives.

On Nov. 6, Woodfill spoke to the district’s SPIRAL program for gifted and talented students at The Bendwood School. He shared his experiences as a NASA engineer and as a young student, including his own failing grades in elementary school.

“Mr. Woodfill did a great job inspiring and entertaining our SPIRAL students,” said program teacher Molly Nipper. “He shared his challenges as a young school kid, up through college at Rice University. He overcame challenges. I think that all kids and adults should hear his story.”

Woodfill worked for NASA at the Johnson Space Center for 52 years. Working as a warning system engineer, He contributed to the designs of both the Columbia and Eagle spacecraft warning systems.

He was at his duty station when the Apollo 13 crew radioed in to confirm an alert from his own warning system about the dire situation that might have resulted in the loss of the entire crew.

An explosion on board forced the Apollo 13 to circle the moon without landing in 1970. With only limited power, little potable water and increasing carbon dioxide levels resulting in critically needed, makeshift repairs, the crew returned to Earth safely six days after launch on April 17, 1970.

For his work, Woodfill was later awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom as a member of Apollo’s Mission Operations Team.

He arrived here in 1960 after earning a Rice University basketball scholarship, and later graduated with an electrical engineering degree from the private college. So impressed by hearing President Kennedy’s famous 1962 Rice Stadium “Moon Race” speech, Woodfill joined NASA three years later.

He was the Apollo Moon program’s Spacecraft Warning System Engineer, the only NASA employee to serve in this critical role.

In addition to the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Woodfill has received NASA’s Power of One and Educational Outreach Volunteer awards, to name a few. One thing he shared with students, along with his life and career story, was the oath created for the Apollo Team:
   

Oath of an Apollo 13
I will do my best to achieve success in my goals.
Neither fear, failure, nor frustration shall overcome me.
I am unstoppable, unmovable, and unshakable.
FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION
HAVE THE RIGHT STUFF

Woodfill also gave every student at the Bendwood event a wrist band that stated, “Failure is NOT an Option – I have the Right Stuff.”