caption death_date death_place birth_place birth_date image article_title name occupation alma_mater
shea and command module demonstrates a docking between the apollo lunar module 14 february 1999 weston , massachusetts , us the bronx , new york , us 5 september 1925 joseph francis shea.jpg joseph francis shea
 joseph francis shea nasa manager university of michigan
joseph francis shea

joseph francis shea -lrb- september 5 , 1925 -- february 14 , 1999 -rrb- was an american aerospace engineer and nasa manager .
born in the new york city borough of the bronx , he was educated at the university of michigan , receiving a ph.d. in engineering mechanics in 1955 .
after working for bell labs on the radio inertial guidance system of the titan i intercontinental ballistic missile , he was hired by nasa in 1961 .
as deputy director of nasa 's office of manned space flight , and later as head of the apollo spacecraft program office , shea played a key role in shaping the course of the apollo program , helping to lead nasa to the decision in favor of lunar orbit rendezvous and supporting `` all up '' testing of the saturn v rocket .
while sometimes causing controversy within the agency , shea was remembered by his former colleague george mueller as `` one of the greatest systems engineers of our time '' .
deeply involved in the investigation of the 1967 apollo 1 fire , shea suffered a nervous breakdown as a result of the stress that he suffered .
he was removed from his position and left nasa shortly afterwards .
from 1968 until 1990 he worked as a senior manager at raytheon in lexington , massachusetts , and thereafter became an adjunct professor of aeronautics and astronautics at mit .
while shea served as a consultant for nasa on the redesign of the international space station in 1993 , he was forced to resign from the position due to health issues .
