Christopher C. Kraft Jr.
Christopher Columbus Kraft Jr. ya rayu a Fabrairu 28, 1924 - Yuli 22, 2019) wani injiniyan sararin samaniya ne na Amurka kuma injiniyan hukumar  NASA wanda ya taka rawa wajen kafa Cibiyar Kula da Ofishin Jakadancin ta hukumar da kuma tsara tsarinta da al'adunta. Abokinsa Glynn Lunney ya ce a cikin 1998: "Cibiyar Kulawar a yau ... abin tunkahonta shine  Chris Kraft." 

Bayan kammala karatunsa na 1944 daga Cibiyar Fasaha ta Virginia Polytechnic da Jami'ar Jiha tare da digiri a cikin injiniyan jirgin sama, Kwamitin Ba da Shawarwari na Kasa don Aeronautics (NACA), ƙungiyar da ta gabace ta zuwa National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) ta ɗauki hayar Kraft. Ya yi aiki sama da shekaru goma a cikin binciken sararin samaniya kuma a cikin 1958 ya shiga cikin rukunin Taswirar Sararin Samaniya, ƙaramin ƙungiyar da aka ba wa alhakin sanya mutumin farko na Amurka a sararin samaniya . An sanya shi zuwa sashin ayyukan jirgin, Kraft ya zama darektan jirgin na farko na NASA. Ya kasance a bakin aiki a lokacin jirgin sama mai saukar ungulu na farko da Amurka ta yi, da jirgin sama na farko da ya fara tuki, da fara tafiya ta sararin samaniya . A farkon shirin Apollo, Kraft ya yi ritaya a matsayin darektan jirgin sama don mai da hankali kan gudanarwa da tsara manufa. A cikin 1972, ya zama darektan Cibiyar Kula da Sararin Samaniya ta Manned (daga baya Johnson Space Center ), yana bin mai ba shi shawara Robert R. Gilruth, kuma ya rike mukamin har sai da ya yi ritaya a 1982. 

Daga baya, Kraft ya tuntubi kamfanoni irin su IBM da Rockwell International . A cikin 1994, an nada shi shugaban kwamitin da zai sa shirin NASA ta sararin samaniya ya fi tasiri. Rahoton rikice-rikice na kwamitin, wanda aka sani da rahoton Kraft, ya ba da shawarar cewa ayyukan NASA na Space Shuttle ya kamata a ba da shi ga wani dan kwangila mai zaman kansa. Har ila yau, ta ba da shawarar cewa NASA ta rage sauye-sauyen ƙungiyoyin da aka yi niyya don inganta tsaro da aka yi bayan bala'in Jirgin Jirgin Sama . Wannan ya ja hankalin ƙarin sharhi mai mahimmanci bayan bala'in Jirgin Sama na Columbia.

Kraft published his autobiography  Flight: My Life in Mission Control in 2001. The Mission Control Center building was named after him in 2011. When he received the National Space Trophy from the Rotary Club in 1999, the organization described him as "a driving force in the U.S. human space flight program from its beginnings to the Space Shuttle era, a man whose accomplishments have become legendary".

Rayuwar farko da ilimi 
An haifi Christopher Columbus Kraft Jr a Phoebus, Virginia a ranar 28 ga Fabrairu, 1924. An ba shi suna bayan mahaifinsa, Christopher Columbus Kraft, wanda aka haifa a birnin New York a cikin 1892 kusa da sabon sunan Columbus Circle . Mahaifin Kraft, ɗan Bavarian baƙi,  ya sami sunansa abin kunya, amma ya ba da shi ga ɗansa duk da haka. A cikin shekarun baya, Kraft-da sauran masu sharhi-zasu yi la'akari da shi ya dace sosai. Kraft yayi sharhi a cikin tarihin rayuwarsa cewa, tare da zabin sunansa, "wasu alkiblar rayuwata sun daidaita tun daga farko".  Mahaifiyarsa, Vanda Olivia ( née Suddreth), ma'aikaciyar jinya ce.   Lokacin yana yaro, Kraft ya taka leda a cikin rukunin runduna-da-bugle na Legion na Amurka kuma ya zama zakaran dan wasan jiha.  Ya je makaranta a Phoebus, inda makarantar kawai ta je aji tara  kuma ta halarci makarantar sakandare ta Hampton .  Ya kasance mai sha'awar wasan ƙwallon kwando kuma ya ci gaba da buga wasanni a kwaleji; shekara guda yana da matsakaicin batting na .340. 

A cikin Satumba 1941, Kraft ya fara karatunsa a Cibiyar Fasaha ta Virginia da Jami'ar Jiha (Virginia Tech) kuma ya zama Cadet a cikin Corps of Cadets a matsayin memba na N-Squadron. Amurka ta shiga yakin duniya na biyu a watan Disamba 1941, kuma ya yi yunkurin shiga sojan ruwan Amurka a matsayin V-12 na jirgin sama, amma an ƙi shi saboda kone hannun dama da ya sha a lokacin yana da shekaru uku.  Ya sauke karatu a watan Disamba 1944 tare da digiri na farko a fannin injiniyan jiragen sama .

Aikin NACA 
A lokacin kammala karatun, Kraft ya karɓi aiki tare da kamfanin jirgin sama na Chance Vought a Connecticut . Har ila yau, ya yi amfani da Kwamitin Ba da Shawarwari na Ƙasa (NACA), wata hukumar gwamnati wadda Cibiyar Nazarin Langley ta kasance a Hampton, Virginia ; Kraft ya yi la'akari da cewa yana kusa da gida, amma ya yi amfani da shi azaman mai baya idan ba a yarda da shi a wani wuri ba. Lokacin da ya isa Chance Vought aka gaya masa cewa ba za a dauke shi aiki ba tare da takardar shaidar haihuwa ba, wanda bai zo da shi ba. Ya fusata da tunanin tsarin mulki na kamfanin, ya yanke shawarar karbar tayin daga NACA maimakon haka. 

A cikin 1940s, NACA kungiya ce ta bincike da ci gaba, mai sadaukar da kai ga binciken binciken sararin samaniya. A Cibiyar Bincike ta Langley, an yi amfani da manyan ramukan iska don gwada sabbin fasahohin jiragen sama, kuma ana gudanar da nazari kan sabbin dabaru kamar jirgin roka na Bell X-1 .  An sanya Kraft zuwa sashin binciken jirgin, inda Robert R. Gilruth ya kasance shugaban bincike.  Ayyukansa tare da NACA sun haɗa da haɓaka wani misali na farko na tsarin kawar da gust don jiragen da ke tashi a cikin iska mai rikici. Wannan ya haɗa da ramawa ga bambance-bambancen yanayi ta hanyar karkatar da wuraren sarrafawa ta atomatik.  Ya binciki vortices wingtip, kuma ya gano cewa, kuma ba prop-wash, su ne alhakin mafi yawan tashin tashin hankali a cikin iska da ke bin jirgin sama.  

Ko da yake yana jin daɗin aikinsa, Kraft ya sami ƙarin damuwa, musamman ma tun da bai ɗauki kansa a matsayin masanin ilimin kimiyya ba. A shekara ta 1956, an gano shi yana da ciwon ulcer kuma ya fara tunanin canjin aiki.

Manazarta 
Mutuwan 2019