Jay Henry Greene was a NASA engineer. Between 2000 and 2004, he served as Chief Engineer at Johnson Space Center, where his role consisted primarily of advising the Center Director. He worked as a FIDO flight controller during the Apollo Program and a flight director from 1982 to 1986, and as ascent flight director during the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.
Jay Greene as Chief Engineer of Johnson Space Center
Jay Greene (third from left) and Tommy Holloway (fourth from left) with a group of flight directors after the successful completion of the STS-5 mission.
Greene at his console after the loss of Challenger
As technical manager for the International Space Station, Jay Greene (third from right) takes part in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a refurbished altitude chamber at Kennedy Space Center. It was to be used to perform leak tests on ISS modules.
Flight controllers are personnel who aid space flight by working in such Mission Control Centers as NASA's Mission Control Center or ESA's European Space Operations Centre. Flight controllers work at computer consoles and use telemetry to monitor various technical aspects of a space mission in real-time. Each controller is an expert in a specific area and constantly communicates with additional experts in the "back room". The flight director, who leads the flight controllers, monitors the activities of a team of flight controllers, and has overall responsibility for success and safety.
NASA chief flight director Gene Kranz at his console on May 30, 1965, in the Mission Operations Control Room, Mission Control Center, Houston.
Image: Russian ISS Flight Control Room
Image: ISS Flight Control Room 2006
