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 Editor's Note: This is the second in a two-part biography of
William H. Pickering, former director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Part 1 of this series ran earlier this month.
The successful launch of Explorer 1 on January 31, 1958 was
the first of many milestones for the U.S. space program during that
important year. On July 29, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National
Aeronautics and Space Act, landmark legislation that created NASA. When the
civilian space agency began operations on October 1, 1958, William H. Pickering
was issued several new challenges. As director of Caltech's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory (JPL), the New Zealand-born scientist was now responsible for the
development of both near-earth satellites and deep-space missions. Both goals
would guide the greatest accomplishments of his career.
Pioneer IV
On March 3, 1959, NASA launched the Pioneer IV satellite towards
the Moon. Build by JPL, the cone-shaped satellite included two Geiger-Mueller
counters and a photoelectric sensor. Designed to measure cosmic radiation, Pioneer
IV was a logical extension of the Explorer program, which had discovered two
radiation belts around the Earth. During the Pioneer program, Pickering
worked closely with James Van Allen, the University of Iowa
professor after whom the Earth's radiation belts (the Van Allen Belts) are
named; and Wehrner von Braun, the German rocket scientist whose V2s Pickering
had analyzed during World War II. As the first U.S. spacecraft to escape Earth's
orbit, Pioneer IV passed within 37,000 miles of the Moon.
Mariner
William Hayward Pickering also played an important part in
NASA's Mariner program, which sent space probes to Mars and Venus during the 1960s
and 1970s. Mariner featured a number of firsts, including the first planetary flyby, the first planetary orbiter, and the first gravity-assisted maneuver. Suddenly
a celebrity, Pickering was twice featured on the cover of Time magazine – a feat that few non-politicians have achieved. "This
was the triumphant climax of an eight-month experiment", Time wrote of the
Mariner IV launch on November 28, 1964. "Pulsing back across the far reaches of
spaces", pictures of the Martian surface honored "the agile combination of men
and computers" who labored in Pickering's
Pasadena-based laboratory.
Ranger and Surveyor
Although scientists such as William H. Pickering were eventually
upstaged by the astronauts who landed on the moon, the JPL director helped pave
the way for America's
greatest victory in the space race. On July 28, 1964, NASA launched a JPL-built
spacecraft named Ranger VII to achieve a lunar impact trajectory and transmit
high-resolution photographs of the lunar surface during its final minutes of
flight. Equipped with six television cameras, Ranger VII transmitted the first
pictures of the lunar surface, helping to debunk the theory that the Moon was covered
in a thick layer of dust. From 1966 to 1968, Pickering helped design the seven Surveyor
spacecraft that landed on the Moon's surface, proving that the lunar terrain
was indeed safe for manned landings.
Honors and Accolades
Before retiring from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) at
the age of 66, William Hayward Pickering received the IEEE Edison Medal (1972),
the National Medal of Science (1975), and an honorary knighthood from the Queen
of England (1976). Following a short stint as a Caltech professor, Pickering accepted a two-year teaching position in Saudi Arabia before returning to the United States
at the age of 68. Although he planned to work on solar energy projects, he instead
served as director for a company which specialized in another source of alternative
energy: recycled wood chips.
William H. Pickering died on March 15, 2004.
Resources:
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap981001.html
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/masterCatalog.do?sc=1964-041A
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/past/pioneer.html
http://msl.jpl.nasa.gov/QuickLooks/pioneer0QL.html
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/surveyor.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hayward_Pickering
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