Education
King grew up in Boston, the son of a local sportswriter, and attended Boston College.
King grew up in Boston, the son of a local sportswriter, and attended Boston College.
He is best known for his work as Kennedy Space Center Chief of Public Information during projects Mercury, Gemini and Apollo. As part of this role, he provided public announcements and commentary for several of the mission launches. He is best known for his announcement of the Apollo 11 launch, which earned him the nickname "Voice of Apollo".
The iconic commentary from that launch has been reused in songs and advertisements, including the song "Tout Virginia Bien" by the Japanese group Pizzicato Five and was included in a 2011 collection of National Aeronautics and Space Administration sounds from historic spaceflights that can be used as ringtones.
Prior to joining National Aeronautics and Space Administration, King worked for the Associated Press. He opened the Associated Press"s Cape Canaveral bureau in 1958, when he was 27 years old.
King joined National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 1960, and served as the Kennedy Space Center"s Chief of Public Information from 1960 to 1971, and as National Aeronautics and Space Administration"s Public Affairs Officer from 1971 to 1975. After National Aeronautics and Space Administration, he spent two years as Director of Public Affairs for the United States. Energy Research and Development Administration (later part of the United States Department of Energy), and another 15 years as executive vice president of Occidental Petroleum.
He was appointed director of communications at the Fuqua School of Business in 1993.
In 1997, King returned to Cape Canaveral and the United States. manned space program, joining the United Space Alliance, where he served as spokesman. King officially retired in October 2010, but continued to serve as a volunteer public affairs officer for National Aeronautics and Space Administration.