Chris Kraft, who joined NASA in 1958, developed the planning and control processes for crewed space missions. He set up NASA's Mission Control operations to manage America's first manned space flight and the subsequent Apollo missions to the Moon. The first flight director of US space agency NASA. He went on to join the federal National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics - NASA's predecessor - at Langley, a few miles from his home in Virginia. Assigned to the Flight Research Division, he contributed to programs which included evaluating the flying qualities of aircraft and tests to measure supersonic aerodynamics.

In 2006, NASA honored Kraft for his crucial work in America's space programs with the Ambassador of Exploration Award, given to astronauts and other key individuals who participated in the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs between 1961 and 1972. NASA named its mission control building at the Johnson Space Center in Houston the Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center, in 2011.