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Max Faget, perhaps the greatest of astronautical engineers, is dead.
He will always be known for the Mercury spacecraft. I like to also think of his idea for the escape tower, which saved the lives of two Soyuz crews.
Faget's greatest accomplishment would have been the fully-reusable, two-stage space shuttle. However, the Air Force payload requirements and minimal R&D funding finished off his "DC-3" shuttle. Yet Faget can claim that the ballistic re-entry mode of his orbiter would later be used by Burt Rutan, albeit without the hypersonic spin problems predicted for the DC-3.
Pour a forty on the curb for a great man and a pioneer of the space age.
Who needs Michael Griffin when you can have Peter Griffin? Catch "Family Guy" Sunday nights on FOX.
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http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mp … Chronicles has an article with an, IMO, very nice photograph...
lots of praise, from a lot of people too... And this:
"At Rutan's invitation, an enthusiastic Faget attended the official unveiling of SpaceShipOne in April 2003 in Mojave, Calif.
"There was a mutual admiration and respect for each other. He was thrilled at Burt's innovative design and very excited that Rutan was going to make it into space," said Nanette Cerna, a daughter of Faget who works as a shuttle engineer at the Johnson Space Center. "He was cheering him on.""
The eyes in the picture say it all... A great mind has left us.
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