CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Jack King, a NASA public affairs official who became the voice of the Apollo moon shots, died Thursday. He was 84.
King counted down the historic launch of Apollo 11 on July 16, 1969. He also did the countdown for hundreds of the early rocket launches, including the two-man Gemini missions and many other Apollo missions
King died at a hospice facility not far from Kennedy Space Center, said Hugh Harris, retired director of public affairs at Kennedy. King had been diagnosed early this year with heart failure.
In 2009, on the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, King said that he still enjoyed hearing recordings of himself from that big launch day.
“I wish I had a penny for every time it was used,” he said.
“Twelve, 11, 10, 9, ignition sequence start. Six, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, zero, all engine running. Liftoff! We have a liftoff, 32 minutes past the hour. Liftoff on Apollo 11.”
King later said he was so excited, he said “engine” instead of “engines.” He had no script and stuck to the bare facts, he said.
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