Harold Joseph "Joe" McMann, Jr, was born June 28, 1937 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. After attending Central Catholic High School in Oklahoma City, he graduated with a BS degree in chemical engineering from the University of Notre Dame in 1959. His first job was as an application engineer for Liquid Carbonic, a division of General Dynamics, in Chicago.
In search of new horizons, Joe applied to NASA, where he accepted a position in 1961 that lasted until 1997. During his 36-year period of expanding interest in space, Joe worked as a project engineer and as a manager with NASA JSC (Johnson Space Center) near Houston, Texas. He was associated with environmental control systems and spacesuit systems. Joe also acted as a test subject, real-time support engineer, subsystems manager, and technical manager on various projects.
After retiring from NASA in 1997, Joe worked as a technical specialist for Hamilton-Sunstrand. He was associated with spacesuit failure resolution, the development of a urine-measurement system, teaching failure-recovery planning, and serving as a mentor.
Since retiring a second time in 2002, Joe has served as a consultant to NASA and industry. He coauthored a book US Spacesuits with Ken Thomas, also formerly with Hamilton Sunstrand. Joe has participated in the JSC Spacesuit System Knowledge Capture Initiative. He has also acted as a consultant to the Spacesuit Water Intrusion Mishap Investigation Board.
When asked, Joe cites his most memorable EVA-related achievement as being a test subject for every EVA system for which he had responsibility, including Gemini, Skylab, and Shuttle/ISS EVA life support systems.