James C. Fletcher

James C. Fletcher

James Chipman Fletcher (born June 5, 1919 in Millburn , New Jersey , United States , † December 22, 1991 in Washington, DC ) was an American physicist . From 1964 to 1971 he was President of the University of Utah , then from April 27, 1971 to May 1, 1977, and from May 12, 1986 to April 8, 1989, the fourth and seventh head of the US space agency NASA .

Life

Fletcher was born in Millburn, New Jersey . His father was the physicist Harvey Fletcher . He received an undergraduate degree in physics from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in 1948. in physics from the California Institute of Technology . After holding research and teaching positions at Harvard and Princeton Universities , he joined the Hughes Aircraft Company in 1948 . He later worked for the Ramo-Wooldridge Corporation in the guided missile division.

In 1958, Fletcher co-founded Space Electronics Corporation in Glendale , California , which merged into Space General Corporation . He was later named systems vice president of Aerojet General Corporation in Sacramento , California. He became president of the University of Utah in 1964 , a position he held until his appointment as NASA administrator in 1971.

During his first tenure as administrator at NASA, Fletcher received permission from Administration Nixon to develop the space shuttle . He was also responsible for the Viking program , which sent two landers to Mars , led the Skylab missions and approved the Voyager program and the Apollo-Soyuz test project .

In 1972 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .

When Fletcher left NASA in 1977, he became a freelance consultant in McLean , Virginia . He also worked on the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh . During the nine years between his tenures as NASA administrator, Fletcher served as a consultant to major government executives involved in space policy planning. Among other roles, he served on the advisory board that helped develop the Strategic Defense Initiative .

During his second term with NASA, he was heavily involved in efforts to come to terms with the Challenger disaster . After the accident, the shuttle program was interrupted for two years. During this time NASA was working on revising the Solid Rocket Boosters and redesigning their management structures. Fletcher assured that NASA has again invested heavily in the safety and reliability of the program, made changes to the organizational structure to improve efficiency, and restructured the management system. He oversees a complete overhaul of various parts of the shuttle, which should increase safety. During that time, an emergency exit option for astronauts was also developed. He was in charge of the Space Agency when the shuttles resumed flights on September 29, 1988. During his time as administrator, he also agreed to the Hubble program.

Fletcher died of lung cancer on December 22, 1991 at his home in suburban Washington, DC

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ian Fisher: James Fletcher, 72, NASA Chief Who Urged Shuttle Program, Dies. The New York Times, December 24, 1991, accessed July 22, 2009 . 

Web links

Commons : James C. Fletcher  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• NASA biography (English)
• Literature by and about James C. Fletcher in the WorldCat bibliographic database