Former NASA Flight Controller Sy Liebergot has been added as a Special Guest at Chicon 7, the 2012 Worldcon.

Liebergot was a NASA flightcontroller during the Apollo years. His 2008 book, Apollo EECOM: Journey of a Lifetime, according to Susan Raizer’s review, is a compelling read:

The job of EECOM was an awesome responsibility for all of the missions, each with their own quirks and anomalies, but none more so than for Apollo 13. The book details how on that fateful day when an explosion ripped away most of the crew’s oxygen, Liebergot worked with his back room support to come up with alternatives to mitigate against this catastrophic loss. The author describes the scene in Mission Control so well that the reader can feel the tension as everyone worked together to save the crew’s lives.

Sy Liebergot’s presence alongside Guest of Honor Story Musgrave adds further depth to Chicon 7’s tribute to the achievements of manned spaceflight.

The full press release follows the jump.

PRESS RELEASE #12

Chicon 7 Announces NASA’s Sy Liebergot as Special Guest

Chicon 7, the 70th World Science Fiction Convention,

Chicago, IL – August 30 to September 3, 2012

[email protected]

www.chicon.org

Postal queries to: Chicon 7, P.O. Box 13, Skokie, IL 60076

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, February 13, 2012

Chicago, Illinois, USA – Chicon 7, the 70th World Science Fiction Convention (“Worldcon”), is delighted to announce former NASA Flight Controller Sy Liebergot as a Special Guest. Sy Liebergot’s presence alongside Guest of Honor Story Musgrave adds further depth to Chicon 7’s tribute to the achievements of manned spaceflight.

Sy Liebergot was the Lead EECOM Flight Controller in Mission Control for all of the Apollo manned missions and Skylab program missions. On the international scene, Sy was the Lead EECOM for the American-Russian Apollo-Soyuz Test Project mission. Sy was at the focal point of the Apollo 13 crisis in Mission Control when the spacecraft’s oxygen tank exploded. As part of the Apollo 13 Operations Team, Sy was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He also received the NASA Commendation Award for his leadership role in the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project international space mission.

ENDS

Chicon 7 is the 2012 World Science Fiction Convention (“Worldcon”). The first Worldcon occurred in New York City in 1939 and Worldcons have been held annually since then except for 1942-45 when there was no event due to World War II. Chicon 7’s Guests of Honor are five-time Hugo winning author Mike Resnick, artist Rowena Morrill, art agent and collector Jane Frank, science fiction fan and former Worldcon chair Peggy Rae Sapienza, and astronaut Story Musgrave. Chicon 7’s Toastmaster is John Scalzi.

For more details about the convention or to purchase memberships, visit www.chicon.org. Send press questions, or requests to be removed from the Chicon 7 press release mailing list, to [email protected]. Send general queries to [email protected]. “World Science Fiction Society,” “WSFS,” “World Science Fiction Convention,” “Worldcon,” “NASFiC,” “Hugo Award,” and the distinctive design of the Hugo Award Rocket are service marks of the World Science Fiction Society, an unincorporated literary society.