Owen Garriott | |
|---|---|
 Garriott in 1971 | |
| Born | Owen Kay Garriott (1930-11-22)November 22, 1930 Enid, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Died | April 15, 2019(2019-04-15) (aged 88) Huntsville, Alabama, U.S. |
| Education | University of Oklahoma (BS) Stanford University (MS,PhD) |
| Awards | NASA Distinguished Service Medal |
| Space career | |
| NASA astronaut | |
Time in space | 69d 18h 56m |
| Selection | NASA Group 4 (1965) |
TotalEVAs | 3 |
Total EVA time | 13h 43m |
| Missions | Skylab 3 STS-9 |
Mission insignia |   |
| Retirement | June 1986 |
| Scientific career | |
| Thesis | The Determination of Ionospheric Electron Content and Distribution from Satellite Observations (1959) |
| Doctoral advisor | Oswald Villard Allen Peterson |
| Doctoral students | Aldo da Rosa |
Owen Kay Garriott (November 22, 1930 – April 15, 2019) was an Americanelectrical engineer andNASA astronaut, who spent 60 days aboard theSkylabspace station in 1973 during theSkylab 3 mission, and 10 days aboardSpacelab-1 on aSpace Shuttle mission in 1983.
After serving in theUnited States Navy, Garriott was an engineering professor atStanford University before attending theUnited States Air Force Pilot Training Program and later joining NASA. After his NASA career, he worked for various aerospace companies, consulted on NASA-related committees, taught as an adjunct professor, and conducted research onmicrobes found in extreme environments.
Owen Kay Garriott was born inEnid, Oklahoma, on November 22, 1930, to Owen (1909–1981) and Mary Catherine Garriott (née Mellick; 1912–1993).[1]: 58–59 Owen's middle name was based on his mother's middle name.[1]: 59 He was aBoy Scout (earning the rank ofStar Scout),[2] and graduated fromEnid High School in 1948, where he served as senior class president and was voted "Most Likely To Succeed."[3] He received aBachelor of Science degree inelectrical engineering from theUniversity of Oklahoma in 1953, where he was a member ofPhi Kappa Psi fraternity. He was also the elected president of the senior class.[4] He later earnedMaster of Science andPh.D. degrees fromStanford University in electrical engineering in 1957 and 1960, respectively.[5]
Garriott served aselectronics officer in theUnited States Navy from 1953 to 1956. From 1961 through 1965, he was anassistant professor andassociate professor of electrical engineering at Stanford University. He performed research and led graduate studies inionospheric physics after obtaining his doctorate, and authored or co-authored more than 45 scientific papers, chapters and one book, principally in areas of thephysical sciences.[6]
As a prerequisite of the era's scientist-astronaut training, he completed a one-yearUnited States Air Force pilot training program in 1966, receiving qualification as pilot injet aircraft.[7]
In 1965, Garriott was among thesix scientist-astronauts selected byNASA.[8] His first spaceflight, theSkylab 3 mission in July–September 1973, set arecord for duration of over 59 days, more than doubling the one of the spring'sSkylab 2, just to be soon beaten bySkylab 4. Extensive experiments were conducted of theSun, ofEarth resources and in variouslife sciences relating to human adaptation toweightlessness.[7]
Garriott's second space flight was aboardSTS-9 (Spacelab-1) in November–December 1983, a multidisciplinary and international mission of 10 days aboardSpace ShuttleColumbia. Over 70 separate experiments in six different disciplines were conducted, primarily to demonstrate the suitability of Spacelab for research in all these areas. Garriott was also anExtra Class amateur radio operator holding call sign W5LFL. He operated the world's firstamateur radio station in space and on December 1, 1983 made the first amateur radio contact from space using a Motorola handheld 2-meter radio. Amateur radio subsequently expanded into an important activity on dozens of shuttle flights, Space StationMir and theInternational Space Station, with scores of astronauts and cosmonauts participating.[7]
Between these missions, Garriott received a NASA fellowship in the Space Station Project Office. In this position, he worked closely with the external scientific communities and advised the project manager concerning the scientific suitability of thespace station design.[7]
Garriott held the distinction of being the NASA astronaut with the earliest-obtainedPhD degree, having earned his PhD fromStanford University in 1960, two years beforeRobert A. Parker from Caltech in 1962.
On September 10, 1973, controllers inHouston were startled to hear a woman's voice beaming down from Skylab. The voice startledcapsule communicator (CAPCOM)Robert Crippen by calling him by name, and then the woman explained: "The boys haven't had a home-cooked meal in so long I thought I'd bring one up." After several minutes in which she described forest fires seen from space and the beautiful sunrise, the woman said: "Oh oh. I have to cut off now. I think the boys are floating up here toward the command module and I'm not supposed to be talking to you." As Garriott later revealed, he had recorded his wife, Helen, before the launch, giving descriptions of multiple events that might occur during the mission.[9]
After leaving NASA in June 1986, Garriott consulted for various aerospace companies and served as a member of several NASA andNational Research Council Committees.[7]
From January 1988 until May 1993, he wasvice president of space programs atTeledyne Brown Engineering. This division, which grew to over 1,000 people, providedpayload integration for all Spacelab projects at theMarshall Space Flight Center and had a substantial role in the development of the U.S. laboratory for the International Space Station.[7]
Garriott devoted time to several charitable activities in his hometown, including the Enid Arts and Sciences Foundation of which he was a co-founder in 1992. Later, he accepted a position as adjunct professor in the Laboratory forStructural Biology at theUniversity of Alabama in Huntsville and participated in research activities there involving new microbes he returned from extreme environments such as veryalkaline lakes and deep seahydrothermal vents.Hyperthermophiles were returned from several dives in Russian MIR submersibles to theRainbow Vent Field at a depth of 2,300 meters near theAzores in the centralAtlantic Ocean. Other research activities included three trips toAntarctica from which 20 meteorites were returned for laboratory study. Garriott formed a501(c)(3) public philanthropic Garriott Family Foundation to finance the aforementioned adventure travel for himself, his wife and other members of his family.[7]
Garriott married Helen Mary Walker, his high schoolsweetheart, in 1952.[1]: 61 They had four children, includingRobert Garriott andRichard Garriott.[10][11][1]: 61 After he divorced his first wife, Garriott married Evelyn L. Garriott, who had three children from a previous relationship.[1]: 520
His son Richard was launched as aspace tourist on boardSoyuz TMA-13 on October 12, 2008, the first American and the second person worldwide to follow a parent into space.[12] Owen Garriott was in mission control at theBaikonur Cosmodrome inKazakhstan for the launch and was in attendance when his son returned 12 days later.[13][14]
Garriott died on April 15, 2019, at his home inHuntsville, Alabama.[15]
Garriott was a member of the following organizations:American Astronautical Society (fellow),American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (associate fellow),Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers,[7]American Geophysical Union,American Association for the Advancement of Science,Association of Space Explorers (Board of Directors), Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (vice president andvice chairman).[7]
Garriott received the following honors:National Science Foundation Fellowship, 1960–1961; Honorary Doctorate of Science,Phillips University (Enid, Okla.), 1973;NASA Distinguished Service Medal, 1973;Fédération Aéronautique InternationaleV. M. Komarov Diploma for 1973;[16] theOctave Chanute Award for 1975;[17] and theNASA Space Flight Medal, 1983.[7]
The three Skylab astronaut crews were awarded the 1973Collier Trophy "For proving beyond question the value of man in future explorations of space and the production of data of benefit to all the people on Earth."[18][19]Gerald Carr accepted the 1975Dr. Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy fromPresident Ford, awarded to the Skylab astronauts.[20]
He was one of five Oklahoman astronauts inducted into theOklahoma Aviation and Space Hall of Fame in 1980,[21] theUnited States Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1997,[22] the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame in 2000,[23] and the Enid Public Schools Hall of Fame in 2001.[7]
Garriott was presented anHonorary Doctorate of Science from Phillips University in 1973.[24]
A street named after him in Enid, Oklahoma, serves as one of the city's main thoroughfares. It is part ofU.S. Route 412.[25]
Garriott was co-author, with fellow astronautJoseph Kerwin and writerDavid Hitt, ofHomesteading Space, a history of the Skylab program, published in 2008.[26] He was co-author ofIntroduction to Ionospheric Physics withHenry Rishbeth. Garriott was also a contributor to the bookNASA's Scientist-Astronauts by David Shayler andColin Burgess. Garriott wrote the foreword to the book.[1]: xv–xvi
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