Rocco Petrone

Infobox Person
name = Rocco Petrone

---

image_size = 200px
caption = Official NASA portrait of Rocco Petrone
birth_date = birth date|1926|03|31
birth_place = Amsterdam, New York, United States
death_date = death date and age|2006|08|24|1926|03|31
death_place = Palos Verdes Estates, California, United States
education = United States Military Academy, Master's degree in mechanical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
occupation = Director of the Marshall Space Flight Center
title =
spouse = Ruth Holley Petrone
parents =
children = 4
nationality = American
website =

Rocco Anthony Petrone (March 31 1926 – August 24 2006) was an American engineer who was the third director of the NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center from 1973 to 1974.cite news |title=Dr. Rocco Petrone - Third Center Director, Jan. 26, 1973 - March 15, 1974 |url=http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/management/center_directors/pages/petrone1.html |publisher=Marshall Space Flight Center |date=2006-08-30 |accessdate=2007-08-01] Before that he was Director of Launch Operations at NASA's Kennedy Space Center from July 1966 until September 1969 and then Apollo Program Director.

Early life

The son of Italian immigrants (his parents were from Sasso di Castalda in Basilicata) and born in Amsterdam, New York, he attended the United States Military Academy at West Point. He was raised Roman Catholic. There he played defensive tackle in the 1945 national football championship winning team. Graduating in 1946, he served in Germany from 1947 to 1950.cite news |work=The Huntsville Times |title=Dr. Rocco Petrone, MSFC director in 1973-74, dies at 80 |date=2006-08-31 |first=Shelby G. |last=Spires |page=1A |quote=Dr. Rocco Petrone, a former director of Marshall Space Flight Center and the Apollo lunar program, was remembered by NASA colleagues Wednesday as a firm, guiding force in man's quest for the moon. Petrone died Aug. 24 at his home in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. He was 80.] He would retire from the Army in 1966 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

He also earned a master's degree in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1951 and received an honorary doctorate from Rollins College. [cite news |url=http://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/features/rocco_petrone.html |title=Rocco Petrone, 1926-2006 |date=2006-08-30 |work=NASA Event News] During two decades with the U.S. Army, Petrone took part in developing the Redstone rocket, the first U.S. ballistic missile and the vehicle used to propel America's first astronauts, Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom on their suborbital missions.

NASA career

In 1960, Petrone was transferred to NASA.cite news |work=The Washington Post |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/30/AR2006083003221.html |title=Rocco Petrone, 80; Helped Lead Moon Missions |date=2006-08-31 |accessdate=2006-09-07] There, Petrone presided over the development of the Saturn V launch vehicle and launch operations, what he dubbed the "five-month marathons," leading up to each launch. He oversaw construction of all the launch elements of the Apollo program, including the Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39, the Vertical Assembly Building and the Crawler-Transporter, all of which are still used for Space Shuttle operations. He retired from the Army in 1966 but continued at work at NASA sites, being promoted to Director of Launch Operations at the Kennedy Space Center that same year. Shortly after the Apollo 11 mission, he was appointed director of the entire Apollo program. [cite news |title=Newsbreaks: Obituaries |work=Aviation Week and Space Technology |date=2006-09-04 |page=20 |volume=165 |issue=9] In 1972, he was assigned additional responsibilities as program director of the NASA portion of the U.S. and the Soviet Union joint Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.

Petrone was described as demanding by his NASA colleagues. Humboldt C. Mandell, Jr. said that once:

Petrone served for one year as the first non-German administrator of the Marshall Space Flight Center, after Wernher von Braun and Eberhard Rees. At the time NASA was undergoing severe budget cutbacks, and his tenure was marked with many reassignments or firings. In 1974, Petrone left the Marshall Center to accept an appointment as the third highest ranking person in NASA as Associate Administrator.

After NASA

In 1975, Petrone retired from NASA and became the president and chief executive officer of the National Center for Resource Recovery, a joint industry/labor effort to develop and encourage ways to recover materials and energy from solid waste. In the 1980s, Petrone held senior posts at Rockwell International, manufacturer of the Space Shuttle Orbiter.

Prior to the launch of the Space Shuttle "Challenger" on STS-51-L, he advised the launch not take place. This was because he was worried the overnight freezing temperatures may have damaged the thermal protection system. [cite book |url=http://history.nasa.gov/rogersrep/v5part2.htm#3 |chapter=Testimony of R. Petrone, B. Glaysher, M. Cioffoletti and A. Martin; February 27, 1986 session |title=Rogers Commission Report] However this was not the cause of the launch failure that killed seven astronauts.

He died on August 24, 2006 from complications related to diabetes in Palos Verdes Estates, California, aged 80. [cite news |publisher=Marshall Space Flight Center |url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/news/news/releases/2006/06-101.html |title=Former Marshall Center Director Dr. Rocco Petrone Passes Away at 80 |date=2006-08-30 |accessdate=2006-09-07]

References