James Chipman Fletcher

June 5, 1919 (age 72)

Millburn, New Jersey, United States

During his first administration at NASA, Dr. Fletcher was responsible beginning the Shuttle effort, as well as the Viking program that sent landers to Mars. During his second tenure, he presided over the effort to recover from the Challenger accident. Indeed, he oversaw or initiated virtually every major space project of the last two decades. Although the missions were planned before he took over, he was Administrator during the three Skylab missions in 1973 and 1974 and the two Viking probes that landed on Mars in 1976. He also approved the Voyager space probe to the outer planets, the Hubble Space Telescope program, and the Apollo-Soyuz mission, which in 1975 linked American astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts in space. During his second administration at NASA, Fletcher was largely involved in efforts to recover from the Challenger accident. With the accident, the Shuttle program went into a two-year hiatus while NASA worked to redesign the solid rocket boosters and revamp its management structure. Fletcher ensured that NASA reinvested heavily in the program's safety and reliability, made organizational changes to improve efficiency, and restructured its management system. Most important, he oversaw a complete reworking of the components of the Shuttle to enhance its safety and added an egress method for the astronauts. A critical decision resulting from the accident and its aftermath--during which the nation experienced a reduction in capability to launch satellites--was to expand greatly the use of expendable launch vehicles. He was in charge of the agency when the Space Shuttle finally returned to flight on September 29, 1988.

James Chipman Fletcher

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administrator government official

Education

Columbia University and California Institute of Technology.

Career

During his first administration at NASA, Dr. Fletcher was responsible beginning the Shuttle effort, as well as the Viking program that sent landers to Mars. During his second tenure, he presided over the effort to recover from the Challenger accident. Indeed, he oversaw or initiated virtually every major space project of the last two decades. Although the missions were planned before he took over, he was Administrator during the three Skylab missions in 1973 and 1974 and the two Viking probes that landed on Mars in 1976. He also approved the Voyager space probe to the outer planets, the Hubble Space Telescope program, and the Apollo-Soyuz mission, which in 1975 linked American astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts in space.

During his second administration at NASA, Fletcher was largely involved in efforts to recover from the Challenger accident. With the accident, the Shuttle program went into a two-year hiatus while NASA worked to redesign the solid rocket boosters and revamp its management structure. Fletcher ensured that NASA reinvested heavily in the program's safety and reliability, made organizational changes to improve efficiency, and restructured its management system. Most important, he oversaw a complete reworking of the components of the Shuttle to enhance its safety and added an egress method for the astronauts. A critical decision resulting from the accident and its aftermath--during which the nation experienced a reduction in capability to launch satellites--was to expand greatly the use of expendable launch vehicles. He was in charge of the agency when the Space Shuttle finally returned to flight on September 29, 1988.

Achievements

He was the only person to serve twice as National Aeronautics and Space Administration Administrator, first from April 1971 to May 1977, then from May 1986 to April 1989.
Under his watch, the final three Apollo missions went to the Moon; Skylab experiments were performed, suggesting the possibility of human habitation of space; the Russians and Americans joined in the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz manned space venture; and there was an unprecedented Viking mission to Mars.
He launched the Space Shuttle program

Religion

Mormonism

Membership

National Academy, of Engineering.

Sigmi Xi , United States
Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics , United States
the National Library of Medicine , United States
the Visiting Committee of the National Bureau of Standards , United States
the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges , United States
the Naval Warfare Panel , United States
the President's Science Advisory Committee , United States

1967 - 1991

Interests

Pre history, water sports.

Connections

Father:: Harvey Fletcher
Mother:: Lorena Karen Chipman Fletcher
Brother:: Stephen Harvey Fletcher
Daughter:: Ginger Fletcher
Daughter:: Mary Sue Flatcher
Daughter:: Barbara Fletcher Rush
Son:: Stephen Fletcher

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