George W.S. Abbey, senior fellow in house coverage at Rice College’s Baker Institute for Public Coverage and former director of NASA’s Johnson Area Middle, handed away this week after an sickness. He was 91.
Abbey joined the Baker Institute in 2002, dedicating over 20 years to internet hosting quite a few occasions and applications that fostered worldwide cooperation in house. He led the annual Worldwide Area Drugs Summit, uniting specialists from around the globe to deal with medical challenges of long-duration spaceflight. Abbey additionally co-managed the institute’s Moscow Summer time Intern Program. Nevertheless, it was his almost 40-year profession at NASA and indelible affect on human house exploration that earned him the title “father of contemporary spaceflight.”
“George Abbey’s affect prolonged far past his work at NASA; his tenure as a senior fellow in house coverage at Rice College additional enriched our educational group. By means of his insightful mentorship and dedication to advancing house science and coverage, Abbey performed a pivotal function in shaping the way forward for house exploration each at Rice and globally,” mentioned Rice President Reginald DesRoches. “His legacy will endlessly be intertwined with our college’s dedication to pushing the boundaries of human information and exploration.”
Because the director of Johnson Area Middle from 1996-2001, Abbey was answerable for 18,000 civil servants and contractors. He joined the house company in 1964 as an Air Drive captain assigned to the Apollo program earlier than transferring into a number of management roles. He served because the director of JSC flight operations for the early house shuttle missions.
“I didn’t have a job I didn’t take pleasure in,” Abbey mentioned in a 2018 Rice Information article.
Together with many historic victories — Abbey was at mission management when Apollo 11 landed on the moon — he was additionally current throughout a number of the house company’s greatest challenges. Notably, he performed an instrumental function in NASA’s restoration from the 1967 Apollo 1 catastrophe, when a fireplace throughout a check launch killed all three crew members. He additionally helped orchestrate the secure return of the Apollo 13 crew after an explosion crippled its spacecraft in 1970. Abbey and the Apollo 13 operations group acquired the Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award, from President Richard Nixon. Moreover, Abbey performed a big function in growing the Worldwide Area Station and in establishing the USA’ partnership with Russia in house exploration.
“We mourn the lack of our Baker Institute colleague, who will lengthy be remembered at residence and around the globe as a visionary who led mankind to discover house,” mentioned David M. Satterfield, director of Rice College’s Baker Institute for Public Coverage.
“Although he was a pilot and an engineer by coaching, he was additionally a diplomat at his core. Abbey was a powerful advocate for worldwide cooperation in house, which he promoted by dialogue with colleagues around the globe. He cared deeply concerning the nation’s Worldwide Area Station partnerships and their significance for the U.S. return to deep house.”
Abbey labored to diversify NASA’s ranks, recruiting a number of the house program’s first minority and feminine astronauts, together with Sally Experience. The 2018 e-book “The Astronaut Maker: How One Mysterious Engineer Ran Human Spaceflight for a Era” highlights Abbey’s management and advocacy to make “spaceflight obtainable to all, no matter citizenship, gender, shade or ethnic background.”
Abbey acquired quite a few awards, together with the NASA Distinctive Service Medal, the NASA Excellent Management Medal and three NASA Distinguished Service Medals.
David Alexander, director of the Rice Area Institute (RSI), mentioned Abbey was instrumental in strengthening Rice’s involvement in space-related analysis by his engagement with RSI, which in the end led to a extra formal partnership with the NASA Johnson Area Middle.
“George Abbey was a towering determine in house exploration with an affect that prolonged far and huge,” Alexander mentioned. “Personally, I’ll at all times be thankful for the time he spent connecting us with the proper individuals and guiding our path. His affect on the house group is immeasurable, and his loss is deeply felt.”
Abbey’s household launched an announcement following his passing that reads, partly: “He has been known as the daddy of contemporary spaceflight, however we known as him Dad, Grampa and Uncle George. He was a quiet man, good, humble and really non-public. The world can be a lot emptier with out him. He had a whole lot of associates and associates from everywhere in the world who will miss him. His lengthy life was notable for accomplishments as a pilot, engineer, supervisor, educator and father.”
Abbey was born in Seattle in 1932. He’s survived by his 5 youngsters, eight grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews and by so many whose house careers he launched and nurtured.
