Thomas O. Paine

Thomas O. Paine

Thomas Otten Paine (born November 9, 1921 in Berkeley , California , † May 4, 1992 in Los Angeles ) was an American scientist and from March 21, 1969 to September 15, 1970 the third administrator of NASA .

Life

Paine was born in Berkeley, California and attended public schools in various cities. In 1942 he graduated from Brown University with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. From 1946 to 1949 he attended Stanford University and obtained a Master of Science degree in 1947 and a Ph. D. in physical metallurgy in 1949 .

He has received honorary doctorates from Brown University, Clarkson College of Technology, Nebraska Wesleyan University, University of New Brunswick , Oklahoma City University, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Paine was married to Barbara Helen Taunton Pearse from Perth . They had four children.

Scientific career

Paine began his career as a research fellow at Stanford University from 1947 to 1949, conducting studies on high temperature alloys and liquid metals for naval nuclear reactors. From 1949 he worked at General Electric , where he started as a research assistant in the Research Laboratory in Schenectady .

In 1951 he moved to the Meter and Instrument Department in Lynn (Massachusetts) as a material development manager, and later as a laboratory manager. Under Paine's leadership, the laboratory received the 1956 Award for Outstanding Contribution to Industrial Science of the AAAS . From 1958 to 1962, Paine was a research fellow and head of engineering applications at General Electric's Research and Development Center in Schenectady. From 1963 he was manager of the TEMPO, General Electrics Center for Advanced Studies , in Santa Barbara .

Management of NASA

Dr. Thomas O. Paine had been NASA's assistant administrator since January 31, 1968. When James Edwin Webb left NASA on October 8, 1968, he became the executive administrator. He was nominated as the third NASA administrator on March 5, 1969 and confirmed by the Senate on March 20, 1969.

During his tenure with NASA, the first seven manned Apollo missions were flown. ( Apollo 7 to Apollo 13 )

Paine was very active in preparing for the post-Apollo era. Paine, along with George Edwin Mueller and others, developed an ambitious plan for the establishment of a lunar base and massive space station in Earth orbit before the late 1970s, culminating in a manned mission to Mars in 1981. These plans, however, were approved by President Richard Nixon refused.

Next life

Paine resigned from office on September 15, 1970 and returned to General Electric, where he became vice president and later senior vice president of science and technology.

Paine left General Electric in 1976 and became President and Chief Operating Officer of Northrop Corporation through 1982 .

He died of cancer on May 4, 1992 .

The asteroid (5188) Paine was named after him.

Web links

• NASA biography (English)