Bryan Lunney is formerly a NASA

NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

 flight director.

Early life

The son of Apollo

Project Apollo

The Apollo program was the spaceflight effort carried out by the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration , that landed the first humans on Earth's Moon. Conceived during the Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Apollo began in earnest after President John F...

-era flight director Glynn Lunney

Glynn Lunney

Glynn S. Lunney is a retired NASA engineer. An employee of NASA since its foundation in 1958, Lunney was a flight director during the Gemini and Apollo programs, and was on duty during historic events such as the Apollo 11 lunar ascent and the pivotal hours of the Apollo 13 crisis...

, Bryan Lunney grew up in Friendswood, Texas

Friendswood, Texas

Friendswood is a city in the U.S. state of Texas within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. The city lies in Galveston and Harris counties. As of the 2000 U.S...

 and attended Friendswood High School

Friendswood High School

Friendswood High School is a public secondary school located in Friendswood, Texas, United States.Friendswood High School is a 4A educational facility which serves grades 9 through 12,and is a part of the Friendswood Independent School District....

. He graduated from Texas A&M University

Texas A&M University

Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...

 in 1988 with a Bachelor of Science degree in aerospace engineering.

NASA career

After graduation, Lunney took a job at NASA

NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

's Johnson Space Center. He worked in Mission Control

Mission Control Center

A mission control center is an entity that manages aerospace vehicle flights, usually from the point of lift-off until the landing or the end of the mission. A staff of flight controllers and other support personnel monitor all aspects of the mission using telemetry, and send commands to the...

 as a Propulsion Engineer before moving to become head of the Motion Control Systems Group, a flight control

Flight controller

Flight controllers are personnel who aid in the operations of a space flight, working in Mission Control Centers such as NASA's Mission Control Center, or ESA's Operations Center. Flight controllers sit at computer consoles and use telemetry to monitor in real time various technical aspects of a...

 position associated with the International Space Station

International Space Station

The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...

.

In January, 2001, Lunney was appointed a flight director. He was on duty during the Expedition 4

Expedition 4

Expedition 4 was the fourth expedition to the International Space Station.-Crew:-Mission parameters:*Perigee: 384 km*Apogee: 396 km*Inclination: 51.6°*Period: 92 min...

 mission when the International Space Station

International Space Station

The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...

's computers failed, leaving the station's gyroscopes without the information they needed in order to hold the station's attitude stable. Lunney led controllers in creating a primitive but effective temporary solution to the problem, having the crew control the attitude of the space station based on their observations of the sun's position. He said later that “I felt like a fireman who’d walked out of a burning house having just rescued the kids from the bedroom.”

Lunney also worked as a flight director on Expedition 11

Expedition 11

Expedition 11 was the 11th expedition to the International Space Station, using the Soyuz TMA-6, which stayed during the expedition for emergency evacuation....

, and as the Planning/Orbit 3 flight director on the STS-115

STS-115

Note:The P3/P4 Truss segment and batteries were so heavy that the crew count was reduced from seven to six.-Crew notes:...

mission in September 2006.

Lunney and his wife, the former Amori Syptak, have three children.