Jack King’s voice is one of the most recognizable in the world due to his countdown before the Apollo 11 liftoff. The original broadcast of that launch and the subsequent replays have reached the ears of more than a billion people.

After gaining years of experience as a space reporter and leader of the Associated Press Cape Canaveral Bureau, King was selected to be Chief of the Public Information Office for the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

In 1969, King was promoted to Director of Public Affairs for NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, leading a large staff handling education outreach, exhibit programs, astronaut appearances, and community relations. He played a key role in negotiating the public relations plan for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, which showed the first live broadcast of a Russian rocket launch.

 

After King retired, he continued to serve as a volunteer Public Affairs Officer for NASA.  Jack King died of congestive heart failure in 2015 at the age of 84.

 

(source: nasa.gov, Wikipedia)