Pete Rustan
Former NRO Manager Pete Rustan Dies, Space News
“Pedro “Pete” Rustan, a former senior manager at the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and a fixture in space technology circles, died at his home in Woodbridge, Va., June 28 after a two-and-a-half-year battle with cancer. He was 65.”
Pete was a fine engineer, a superb program manager and great guy. He deserves a lot of the credit for the success of the Clementine mission. It was my honor to work with both him and Gene Shoemaker during that mission. Both of them are sorely missed in the space business. R.I.P.
Amen, and Pete was also not one of these guys to place himself so far up the totem pole that he would not speak to lowly students who came to him for advice and help.
A generation is passing before our eyes…
I had the honor of working with Pete at SDI. He was a class act and he was a great friend. The total amount of his input, leadership and technical expertise will never be fully appreciated. A great one has passed.