George Cherry
Primary Guidance, Navigation, and Control System Project Manager
George Cherry served in the Army and Marine Corps before graduating from MIT’s Sloan Business College. Cherry joined the Instrumentation Lab (now Draper) and was responsible for proposing and designing optimal control systems for controlling the modules. He served as the project manager for the Apollo Primary Guidance, Navigation, and Control System (PGNCS).
While focusing on the Lunar Module, Cherry authored the “Lunar Landing Guidance Scheme.” Cherry worked on the Apollo Project for ten years. When the 1201 and 1202 alarms sounded on Apollo 11, he was in Houston offering his opinion on whether or not the Lunar Module was okay to land.