Dyer B. Holmes | NASA official, 91

Dyer Brainerd Holmes, 91, director of manned space flight for NASA when Americans were making early forays into space in the early 1960s, has died.

His death Jan. 11 in Memphis was of complications from pneumonia, his stepson, Pierce Ledbetter, said.

Mr. Holmes joined NASA as director of manned space flight in October 1961, according to the NASA History Office. He resigned in June 1963.

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

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

After leaving NASA, he 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. - AP