clarinews@clarinet.com (02/01/90)
LOS ANGELES (UPI) -- Gen. Samuel Phillips, head of NASA's Apollo lunar landing program when the United States put the first man on the moon, died Wednesday. He was 68. Phillips headed the moon landing program from 1964 to 1969, returning to NASA in 1986 to conduct a management review and make recommendations for changes following the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. At the time of his death he was on the Committee for the Human Exploration of Space, set up by the National Research Council. Phillips retired from the Air Force in 1975 as a four-star general. He had directed the Minuteman Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Program; was commander of the Space and Missile Systems Organization; and was decorated for service as a pilot in the 364th Fighter Group in England. After his retirement from the Air Force, Phillips joined TRW as vice president of the Energy Systems Management Division. He retired from the aerospace company in 1986, but continued as an adviser. Phillips was a graduate of the University of Wyoming, and received a master's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan. He is survived by his wife, Betty Anne, and three daughters, Dana McMenamin of Sacramento, Calif.; Janie Phillips of El Segundo, Calif.; and Kathleen Esposito of Redondo Beach, Calif. A memorial service is scheduled Friday at the Neighborhood Church in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. Burial will be at the Air Force Academy cemetery in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Monday.