James C. Fletcher

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Not to be confused with James Cooley Fletcher.
James C. Fletcher
President of the University of Utah
In office
1964–1971
Preceded byA. Ray Olpin
Succeeded byAlfred C. Emery
Personal details
BornJune 5, 1919
Aerojet General
ThesisCloud chamber studies of cosmic rays (1948)
Doctoral advisorCarl David Anderson

James Chipman Fletcher (June 5, 1919 – December 22, 1991) served as the 4th and 7th Administrator of

Richard M. Nixon, and again from May 12, 1986, to April 8, 1989, under President Ronald Reagan. As such, he was responsible for Apollo Moon missions 15, 16, and 17, the early planning of the Space Shuttle program, and later for the shuttle program's recovery and return to flight after the Space Shuttle Challenger accident. Prior to this, he was president of the University of Utah
from 1964 to 1971.

Biography

President Nixon (right) with NASA Administrator James C. Fletcher in January 1972
Dr. James Fletcher (left) with the cast of Star Trek in front of the Space Shuttle Enterprise at the Palmdale manufacturing facility

Fletcher was born in

Richard M. Nixon
in 1971.

During his first administration at NASA, Fletcher was responsible for beginning the Space Shuttle effort, as well as the Viking program that sent landers to Mars. He oversaw the Skylab missions and approved the Voyager space probes and the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project.

When he left NASA in 1977, Fletcher became an independent consultant in McLean, Virginia, and served on the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh. For nine years, he was active as an advisor to key national leaders involved in planning space policy. Among other activities, he served on an advisory board involved in developing the Strategic Defense Initiative.

In 1986, President Ronald Reagan selected Fletcher to administer NASA for a second time, to help the agency recover from the Space Shuttle Challenger accident. Shuttle flights went into a two-year hiatus while Fletcher ensured that NASA reinvested heavily in the program's safety and reliability, made organizational changes to improve efficiency, and restructured its management system. He oversaw a complete reworking of the components of the Shuttle to enhance its safety, including a redesign of the solid rocket boosters, and added an egress method for the astronauts. The Space Shuttle returned to flight on September 29, 1988. Fletcher also approved the Hubble Space Telescope program. He served as Administrator until April 8, 1989, into the term of Reagan's successor, President George H. W. Bush.

Fletcher lived in

Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C., aged 72,[3] and was buried at Salt Lake City Cemetery. He was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
.

In 1974, he received the Golden Plate Award of the

International Space Hall of Fame in 1992.[5]

References

  1. ^ "In Memory of Harvey Fletcher". www.et.byu.edu. Brigham Young University. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  2. OCLC 654923475 – via ProQuest
    .
  3. ^ a b Fisher, Ian (December 24, 1991). "James Fletcher, 72, NASA Chief Who Urged Shuttle Program, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved December 11, 2007.
  4. American Academy of Achievement
    .
  5. ^ "5 Inducted Into Space Hall of Fame". El Paso Times. El Paso, Texas. Associated Press. October 5, 1992. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.

Sources

External links

Academic offices
Preceded by
President of the University of Utah
 		Succeeded by
Government offices
Preceded by
Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration

1971 – 1977 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration

1986 – 1989 		Succeeded by
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