Abe Silverstein; NASA Official Dubbed Moon Missions as ‘Apollo’

Abe Silverstein, 92, a space research pioneer who dubbed the missions to put man on the moon “Apollo,” died Friday at his home in a Cleveland suburb of congestive heart failure.

Silverstein was director of the NASA Lewis Research Center in Cleveland from 1961 to 1969. NASA credited him with giving the Apollo tag to the missions that, in 1969, made Neil Armstrong the first man to step on the moon. He also directed efforts leading to the Mercury space flights.

NASA administrator Daniel Goldin said Silverstein’s “effective leadership . . . directly contributed to the ultimate success of America’s unmanned and human space programs.”