page_title: Rocco Petrone
section_title: NASA career
hierarchical_section_title: Rocco Petrone / NASA career
caption_attribution_description: Dr. Wernher von Braun (Marshall Space Flight Center Director 1960-1970) and Dr. Rocco Petrone (Marshall Center Director 1973-1974) talk during a lull in the preparations of a Saturn 1 vehicle launch at Cape Kennedy's Launch complex 37 Control Center.
context_page_description: Rocco Anthony Petrone was an American mechanical engineer, U.S. Army officer and NASA official. He served as director of launch operations at NASA's Kennedy Space Center from 1966 to 1969, as Apollo program director at NASA Headquarters from 1969 to 1973, as third director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center from 1973 to 1974, and as NASA Associate Administrator from 1974 until his retirement from NASA in 1975.
context_section_description: In 1960, Petrone was seconded to NASA. There, Petrone presided over the development of Saturn V launch operations, dubbing the period of preparation leading up to each launch "five-month marathons". He oversaw construction of all the launch elements of the Apollo program at Kennedy Space Center, including Launch Complex 39, the Vertical Assembly Building, and the Crawler-Transporter, all of which were later modified for Space Shuttle operations. After his  retirement from the U.S. Army in 1966 he continued to work for NASA as a civilian, being promoted to director of launch operations at KSC in July 1966. In September 1969, shortly after the Apollo 11 mission, he was appointed director of the entire Apollo program at NASA Headquarters. In 1972, Petrone was assigned additional responsibilities as program director of the NASA portion of the U.S. and the Soviet Union joint Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.
   
  From 1973 to 1974, Petrone served for one year as the first non-German administrator of the Marshall Space Flight Center, after Wernher von Braun and Eberhard Rees. At the time NASA was undergoing budget cutbacks, and his tenure was marked with many reassignments or firings. 
  In 1974, Petrone left the Marshall Center to accept an appointment at NASA Headquarters, assuming the post of NASA Associate Administrator, the third-highest ranking official within the agency.
caption: Petrone (l) and Wernher von Braun talk during preparations for the A-104 (SA-8) Saturn 1 launch at LC-37
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