Keith’s note: a friend and former co-worker, Doug Koupash, has died unexpectedly. I worked with Doug at the Space Station Freedom Program Office in Reston, VA. We both worked in Utilization and Ops. I worked with the prospective science users, Doug did logistics – one of our “loggies”. We interacted almost daily and sat through endless (re)design reviews. He was one of the kindest folks I think I ever worked with at NASA. For some reason every time I was at some space event at the Reagan building in DC I’d bump into him in the food court – he went to work there for DHS after NASA. He was always upbeat. For those of you who know what we went through at SSFPO in Reston, we became a very tight bunch. Our Friday BBQ parties at Parkridge III and IV were legendary. The Space Station that is in orbit now carries a piece of every soul who helped design and build it – regardless of what name it was called then – or now. And we can see that legacy fly over our homes at night – true to our PR stuff at the time, it’s often the brightest object in the sky. Ad Astra Doug.

Denney J. Keys, NASA engineer, Washington Post “Denney J. Keys, 54, who had been a senior technical fellow for power systems engineering at NASA, died of cancer Dec. 30 at his home in Mitchellville.” Denney J. Keys (guestbook) Denney J. Keys, NASA Technical Fellow, NASA “Mr. Keys joined NASA in 1990 as lead Power System Manager for the Space Station Freedom Program Office and was responsible for overseeing the Agency […]

Keith’s note: I just learned that John Cox passed away last night after a lengthy illness. I got to know John very well when I worked for him at the Space Station Freedom Program Office in Reston (Level II). Those of you who also worked there will recall that it was a place where people often expressed their opinions with little restraint – and it got to be rather boisterous […]

Keith’s note: I was deeply saddened to learn that my friend Russ Bardos has died. Russ and I worked at the Space Station Freedom Program Office in Reston. Any of you who worked with our rag tag bunch in Reston will know that a special bond developed between all who endured those crazy years. In the following years Russ and I often talked about how we could make things better. […]

Keith’s note: I just learned with great sadness of the passing of Bob Clark aka “Dr. Bob”. Bob was the guy who hired me to work at NASA as a civil servant on the Space Station Freedom Program in 1990. Bob was my first introduction to “old NASA”. He cut his teeth in the Apollo and Skylab days when you needed good design and operations since there was no software […]

Source: Space Station Freedom Program Office President Clinton chose Option A as the preferred design for the space station based upon the Vest Committee report. In doing so, the president gave direction to NASA which included adding portions of Option B such as larger modules, truss modifications, and data system simplifications to the Option A design. Such direction has also been clearly expressed by Congress. According to the presentations made […]