Manned space flight director

Dyer Brainerd Holmes, 91, director of manned space flight for NASA when Americans were making their first forays into space in the early 1960s, died Friday at a hospital in Memphis, Tenn., of complications from pneumonia, said his stepson Pierce Ledbetter.

Holmes joined NASA as director of manned space f light in October 1961 and held the position until June 1963, according to the NASA History Office.

During his time at NASA, John Glenn became the first U.S. astronaut in orbit Feb. 20, 1962, on Mercury-Atlas 6. Scott Carpenter followed Glenn by riding Mercury-Atlas 7 into space May 24 of the same year.

Holmes also helped lay the groundwork for the Apollo program and America’s ambitious venture to the moon.

NASA spokesman Bob Jacobs said Holmes took over the Office of Manned Space Flight for NASA during a critical time for the agency.

“NASA was still relatively young, and senior administrators wanted to beef up leadership and management experience at headquarters in Washington,” Jacobs said in an emailed statement. “Holmes’ expertise in electrical engineering and management was seen as essential to not only study problems but to offer solutions as NASA began to focus its attention on the Apollo program and the race to the moon.”

After leaving NASA, Holmes joined Raytheon Co. as a director. He was later named president of Raytheon, which produced radar and communications systems as well as the Sparrow, Patriot and Sidewinder missiles. He retired in 1986.

Before joining NASA, Holmes worked for Western Electric, Bell Telephone Laboratories and the Radio Corp. of America.

Holmes was born May 24, 1921, in New York. He received a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1943 from Cornell University. As an ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve, he completed graduate studies in radar at both MIT and Bowdoin College.