Frank Spurlock
From his friends: “Late last week, we lost a remarkable unsung hero of the NASA’s launch vehicle program. Frank Spurlock was one of the most accomplished and well regarded supervisors here at NASA Glenn (then Lewis) because of his exceptional technical achievements and beyond the call of duty care he took in developing his people. Frank personally derived the amazingly complex variational calculus equations and wrote the 3D computer program which NASA Lewis relied upon to calculate performance and trajectories for Atlas/Centaur and Titan/Centaur launch vehicles for almost 30 years. These trajectory data were then supplied to the launch vehicle contractors to facilitate their trajectory design & enable the steering coefficients to be calculated.”
Missions like Voyager, Viking, Pioneer Venus, Cassini and many, many others could not have been easily done without Frank’s personal efforts. He also cared deeply about the staff he hired and their continued development. For years, he went out to colleges to hire promising students regardless of their backgrounds. He then mentored those and others, dozens of young staff really, many of whom went on to be middle & even senior leaders at NASA.
Frank was one of the unsung heroes of NASA’s launch vehicle
program. What I owed him is incalculable. He will be missed.
Frank was the most technically preeminent and managerially caring person for whom I have had the privilege to work. What I owed him cannot be calculated. He will be missed.
I am sorry to hear this news. Frank was a technically strong engineer, tremendous mentor and caring individual who would take time from his own important work to guide the visions of young engineers. He did this for me, and I know for many others. As a young engineer, I chose to go to NASA to have the chance to work with and learn from individuals like Frank, Jerry Walberg at Langley and Jim Arnold at Ames. When I think of NASA, Frank will always be part of those thoughts.
Frank’s genius was only rivaled by his kindness.
Frank never stopped mentoring and caring… even in retirement, his presence was available with a phone call. Frank has left a most positive legacy for the ages in Cleveland.