Dr. Maxime Faget

Max Faget conceptualized and designed the first space capsule, the Mercury Capsule, the Apollo command and service modules, and contributed to the space shuttle. By doing so, Faget single-handedly jump-started the American space program in the late 1950s.

Upon becoming Director of Engineering at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, Faget made his biggest advancements in space capsule design. Faget understood a space capsule would have to withstand great G-Force and friction upon re-entering the earth's atmosphere. His design allowed for the spacecraft to slow down in the upper part of the atmosphere causing less friction and G-force. Faget continued as the Director of Engineering at NASA until 1981, when he developed Space Industries International to design an industrial space facility. Faget is known today as the chief designer of NASA's spacecraft.

Far Electrograph Ultraviolet Camera
Satellite Servicing Techniques
Hydroaeroplane
Space Capsule Design
Retractable Landing Gear; Folding Wing
Rotor Control Mechanism for Rotary Aircraft
Altimeter
Link Trainer/Simulator
Ethyl Gasoline
Flying Wing plane; All-Metal High-Wing Monocoque Airplane (Vega)
Communications Satellite
Spin Stabilized Synchronous Communications Satellite
Turbo Jet
Jet Engine
Supercritical Wing
Small Fan-Jet Engine
Aircraft Propulsion System - Jet Engine