Larry Douglas Bradfield (1945-1994) began drawing space ships at age five and his fascination with space travel continued through his entire life.

Larry dreamed of being an astronaut, but in the beginning having the ?€?right stuff?€? meant not only being mentally sharp but being physically near perfect. When he realized that wearing glasses would keep him from meeting the guidelines to be an astronaut, he adjusted his goals and was determined to become a part of making sure he helped to get NASA where they wanted to go, whether it was ?€?just?€? a trip around the earth, a trip to the moon, a space station or to infinity and beyond.

In June 1967, Larry was hired by Lockheed Corporation, subcontracted to NASA at Texas?€™s Johnson Space Center as a physicist and computer programming engineer. Beginning with Apollo 2, Larry worked through the Apollo program with its triumphs and tragedies. He beamed as Apollo 11 landed on the moon and burst with pride to be part of the team that brought Apollo 13 home safely with the first space rescue. He continued his career working on the Skylab.

In November 1983, Larry moved to Florida?€™s Kennedy Space Center where he began working on the Space Shuttle Program. In his years in Florida he held various positions such as:

Manager of the Firing Room Application Software (November 1983-October 1985)
Deputy Director of Launch Processing Systems Engineering and Software
Production (October 1985-April 1986)
Deputy Director of Shuttle Data Systems (April 1986-December 1989)
Director of Space Shuttle Processing Data Management Systems Project Office
(January 1990-August 1990)
Director of Shuttle Processing Data Management Systems Operations and
Development (August 1990-February 1994)

During his career, Larry received many accommodations and accolades, but his greatest joy was being a part of the United States Space Program and knowing he helped America truly reach for the stars.

Larry Douglas Bradfield loved God, his family, his country and the many roles he played in the U.S. Space program.