He was the son of Ludwig Roth, an original member, of the German Rocket Team. Arrived in the United States in New York City, New York in 1946, a year after his father arrived there as part of Operation Paperclip, aboard a converted troop transport.
Roth graduated from Huntsville High School in 1954 and graduated from Auburn University with a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering in 1959.
Survived World World War II, Royal Air Force bombing of rocket development facility at Peenemünde, Germany, August 17–18, 1943, known as Operation Crossbow. Moved to Fort Bliss, Texas. Moved to Huntsville, Alabama in 1950 when the German Rocket Team was relocated to Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. Worked for Lockheed in Sunnyvale, California, from 1959-1960. From 1960 to 1970 Roth worked as a structures engineer on the Saturn V/Apollo Program.
He then worked for about three years on the Skylab program
From 1974 to 1981 he worked in MSFC"s Spacelab Program Office, which led to him becoming payload operations director for the Spacelab-2 Mission. In 1987 he was named manager of the Habitability Module Office, and in 1989 he was named chief engineer of the Spacelab Payload Integration for the Payload Projects Office.
Roth was named deputy manager of the Space Station Project Office in 1991, and in 1994 he became deputy director of Program Development. By 1995 he was the director of Program Development.
He briefly assumed the position of acting manager in the Flight Projects Office in 1998, and in 1999 he was named director of the Flight Projects Directorate.
His special honors and awards include:
Roth also served on the Auburn University School of Engineering Advisory Board from 2000-2007. He died, November 12, 2008, at the age of 72, in Huntsville, Alabama, at his home after a long battle with cancer.
Roth became a charter member of National Aeronautics and Space Administration"s Marshall Space Flight Center, where he went to work in 1960.
