Alexander A. McCool Jr. (10 December 1923 – 14 July 2020) was manager of the Space Shuttle Projects Office at the

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedi ...

George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in th ...

. During his career, McCool contributed to several space developments including the Apollo Program,

Skylab Skylab was the first United States space station, launched by NASA, occupied for about 24 weeks between May 1973 and February 1974. It was operated by three separate three-astronaut crews: Skylab 2, Skylab 3, and Skylab 4. Major operation ...

and the

Space Shuttle program The Space Shuttle program was the fourth human spaceflight program carried out by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which accomplished routine transportation for Earth-to-orbit crew and cargo from 1981 to 2011. I ...

Early life

Alexander A. McCool, Jr. was born 10 December 1923 in Daytona Beach, Florida, the son of Syrian immigrants Alexander A. McCool and Najla Samra. After graduating from high school in Florida in 1942, he became a first class petty officer and machinist mate in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. He received his bachelor's degree in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, ...

from the

University of Southwestern Louisiana The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette, University of Louisiana, ULL, or UL) is a public research university in Lafayette, Louisiana. It has the largest enrollment within the nine-campus University of Louisiana System and the s ...

. He earned a master's degree in

fluid mechanics Fluid mechanics is the branch of physics concerned with the mechanics of fluids (liquids, gases, and plasmas) and the forces on them. It has applications in a wide range of disciplines, including mechanical, aerospace, civil, chemical and ...

from

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of countie ...

. He married Genelle Wade in Vicksburg, Mississippi, on 2 July 1953.

Professional career

After college, McCool first went to work for the Army Corps of Engineers, which assigned him to work on hydraulics projects in Mississippi. Soon afterward, he began his career in

rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entire ...

development in 1954 at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, working on the design of the Redstone Jupiter rocket. In 1960 he joined NASA. As a charter member of the

Marshall Space Flight Center The George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), located in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama ( Huntsville postal address), is the U.S. government's civilian rocketry and spacecraft propulsion research center. As the largest NASA center, MSFC's first ...

, McCool was instrumental in the design of the propulsion systems for the Saturn launch vehicles that propelled Project Apollo to the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width ...

and directed project engineering for Skylab, the first space science laboratory. McCool also served as director of the Structures and Propulsion Laboratory at Marshall during the design of the Space Shuttle's propulsion elements. He played a leadership role in engineering the shuttle's main engine and solid rocket boosters.

Awards

*Presidential Rank of Meritorious Executive, from George W. Bush (1991) *

NASA Distinguished Service Medal The NASA Distinguished Service Medal is the highest award that can be bestowed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States. The medal may be presented to any member of the federal government, including both militar ...

NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal The NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal is an award of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration established in 1991. The medal is awarded to both civilian members of NASA and military astronauts. To be awarded the medal, a NASA employee ...

*Outstanding Leadership Medal *National Space Club's 2002 Astronautics Engineer Award

References

External links

Interview with McCoolDesign News article (2001)
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCool, Alex Marshall Space Flight Center NASA people 1923 births 2020 deaths United States Army Corps of Engineers personnel People from Daytona Beach, Florida Military personnel from Florida University of Louisiana at Lafayette alumni United States Navy personnel of World War II United States Navy sailors Louisiana State University alumni