Pickering, former JPL director, dies

William H. Pickering—director of JPL from 1954 to 1976, a central figure in the U.S. space race, and a Caltech alum and professor—died March 15 of pneumonia at his home in La Cañada Flintridge. Known affectionately as “Mr. JPL” and “Rocket Man,” and one of just a handful of people to appear twice on the cover of Time magazine, Pickering was 93.

“Dr. Pickering was one of the titans of our nation’s space program,” said Charles Elachi, the current director of JPL and a Caltech professor. “It was his leadership that took America into space and opened up the moon and planets to the world.”

Ed Weiler, NASA’s associate administrator for space science, said, “He brought a vision and passion to space exploration that was remarkable. His pioneering work is the very foundation we have built upon to explore our solar system and beyond.”

Pickering joined JPL in 1944, at a time when the Laboratory was developing missile systems for the U.S. Army. He organized the electronics efforts to support guided-missile research and development, becoming project manager for JPL’s first operational missile, Corporal. It was not a simple project. In a 1994 interview, Pickering recalled the trials and tribulations of testing the early guidance systems.

“For the 100th Corporal that we tested,” he said, “I pushed the [launch] button—and the darn thing went east instead of north. I never pushed the button again.” Eventually, under his direction, the Lab designed and developed the Sergeant solid-propellant missile.

Named the Lab’s director in 1954, Pickering soon had his hands full with the space race. Following the first Soviet Sputnik launch, JPL and the Army Ballistic Missile Agency were assigned in

November 1957 to place the first U.S. satellite in orbit. Under Pickering’s direction, in just 83 days, JPL provided the satellite, telecommunications, and upper rocket stages that lofted Explorer 1 into orbit January 31, 1958. The launch, considered one of his greatest achievements, laid the groundwork for a new era of robotic space exploration.

Pickering later recalled the Explorer 1 success and its impact. “The event was symbolic of the mixing process between engineering and science, between the world and the research laboratory . . . it had mixed rocket technology with the universe, and reduced astronautics to practice at last.”

In 1958 the Laboratory, managed by Caltech, was transferred from U.S. Army jurisdiction to the newly created National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Under the new agency, family members recall, Pickering was given the choice of heading either human or robotic space exploration, and chose the latter. In succeeding years, JPL conducted an intensive series of space probes—Ranger and Surveyor missions to the moon, and the Mariner missions to Earth’s neighboring planets.

On December 14, 1962, Mariner 2 successfully completed a flyby of Venus, culminating a 109-day journey of more than 180 million miles—humankind’s first penetration to the vicinity of another planet. Following that triumph, Pickering rode as Grand Marshall of Pasadena’s Tournament of Roses Parade on January 1, 1963.

On July 14, 1965, following a 228-day journey of more than 325 million miles by Mariner 4, Pickering’s team obtained the first close-up pictures of Mars. Four more Mariner missions would reach Venus and Mars before Pickering retired in 1976.

He received numerous honors throughout his career, including NASA’s Distinguished Service Medal, the National Medal of Science from President Gerald Ford in 1975, and an honorary knighthood from Queen Elizabeth in 1976. He was also named to the Order of New Zealand, that country’s highest honor.

Born in Wellington, New Zealand, in 1910, Pickering came to Caltech to study in 1929. After earning his BS and MS in electrical engineering, he completed his PhD in physics in 1936, having been persuaded by then-head Robert Millikan to switch to Millikan’s own field. Pickering joined the faculty as an assistant professor of electrical engineering in 1940, was named a full professor in 1947, and retired as professor emeritus in 1979. He had become a U.S. citizen in 1941.

The longest-serving director in JPL’s history, Pickering saw five U.S. presidents—from Eisenhower to Ford—come and go during his tenure. “I guess,” he reflected in Caltech News in 1994, “that things were going all right, so they left me there until I got old enough to kick out.”

He is survived by his wife, Inez Chapman Pickering, and a daughter, Elizabeth Pickering Mezitt. His son, William Balfour, had died just two days before him. The family requests that memorial donations be made to the William H. Pickering Scholarship for New Zealand Graduate Students at Caltech.
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