now just like the shuttle program itself, he's retiring. wjxx reporter lewis turner has the story. >> reporter: george diller is just as much a part of the shuttle program as the countdown clock. >> this clock has actually been declared a historical artifact. >> reporter: unlike the clock, you won't recognize his face. >> t minus two minutes and counting. >> reporter: that's just flashing lights until george takes over. >> four, three, two -- zero. >> before at i had actually been a reporter, radio reporter from the tampa bay aa. covered the space program over here for about five years. and really fell in love with nasa and the space program. >> reporter: the job opened up for diller in 1978. it was ten years later that he did his first-ever shuttle play by play. >> there's a lot of concentration. you don't have enough time to be nervous about it. t minus 6.6 seconds, the main engines ignite. here i'm doing the last one which will certainly be a highlight.