Owen Garriott

Owen Garriott
Name	Owen Garriott
Birth date	November 22, 1930
Birth place	Enid, Oklahoma, United States
Death date	April 15, 2019
Death place	Huntsville, Alabama, United States
Nationality	American
Occupation	Electrical engineer, Naval aviator, NASA astronaut
Alma mater	University of Oklahoma, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Missions	Skylab 3, Spacelab-1

Owen Garriott was an American electrical engineer, United States Navy aviator, and NASA astronaut who flew on the Skylab and Space Shuttle programs. He logged extensive time in low Earth orbit conducting biomedical, solar, and Earth observation research, and later contributed to astronautics through engineering, academia, and public outreach. His career intersected with major 20th-century aerospace milestones and institutions, including Johnson Space Center, Ames Research Center, and Marshall Space Flight Center.

Early life and education

Born in Enid, Oklahoma, Garriott grew up amid the Dust Bowl and Great Depression eras, influences shared with contemporaries in mid-20th-century American science. He attended the University of Oklahoma, where he earned degrees in electrical engineering and became involved with campus research aligned with postwar technological expansion. Garriott pursued graduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, engaging with research communities connected to Lincoln Laboratory and the emerging fields of microwave engineering and space instrumentation. During his education he interacted with faculty and researchers associated with Bell Labs, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the nascent Aerospace Corporation network.

Navy career and test pilot work

After commissioning through naval officer programs, Garriott served in the United States Navy as a naval aviator, flying aircraft types linked to naval aviation development in the Cold War era, including models from Grumman and McDonnell Douglas. He completed flight and engineering assignments that connected him with Naval Air Test Center activities and evaluation projects that paralleled work at Air Force Flight Test Center and Edwards Air Force Base. His test pilot and systems-integration experience brought him into contact with personnel from National Aeronautics and Space Administration contractors and Lockheed and informed later roles coordinating avionics with teams at North American Rockwell and Boeing.

NASA selection and astronaut career

Garriott was selected as part of a NASA group of scientist-astronauts, joining contemporaries associated with the Apollo program, Skylab program, and early shuttle development. He trained at Johnson Space Center under curricula linked to Mercury Seven-era procedures and newer mission-specialty training used by crews from Gemini program and Apollo 13 veterans. His assignment roster placed him in mission planning working groups with engineers and scientists from Marshall Space Flight Center, Ames Research Center, and international partners such as European Space Agency personnel involved in cooperative payloads. Garriott's astronaut career intersected with leaders including Deke Slayton, Chris Kraft, James Lovell, and Alan Shepard through program management, flight rules, and crew selection processes.

Skylab 3 and Spacelab-1 missions

On the Skylab 3 mission, Garriott served as a science pilot aboard the U.S. orbital workshop, conducting experiments and observations coordinated with the Skylab program office at Marshall Space Flight Center and science teams from National Science Foundation, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration researchers, and university partners. The crew worked on solar astronomy tasks related to instruments developed by groups at California Institute of Technology and Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and performed Earth resources observations of areas studied by US Geological Survey and United Nations remote sensing initiatives. Later, on Spacelab-1, flown on the Space Shuttle Columbia during early shuttle operations, he participated in international payloads managed in cooperation with the European Space Agency and scientific contributors from German Aerospace Center and French National Centre for Scientific Research. Both missions included biomedical, materials science, and solar physics experiments tied to instrumentation from Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and University of California, Berkeley teams.

Scientific contributions and research

Garriott's in-orbit research advanced solar physics, space plasma, and human physiology studies that informed ongoing work at institutions such as NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, and university laboratories. He operated instruments related to ultraviolet and X-ray observations, collaborating with scientists from Harvard College Observatory, NASA Ames Research Center, and groups involved with the Skylab Solar Observatory and later missions like Solar Maximum Mission. Biomedical data from his flights contributed to protocols used by Johnson Space Center life sciences investigators and researchers at Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic involved in orthostatic studies and vestibular research. Postflight, Garriott contributed to engineering education and payload development with associations spanning University of Texas at Austin, University of Alabama in Huntsville, and industrial partners including Hughes Aircraft Company and TRW on instrumentation design.

Personal life and legacy

Garriott was part of a multigenerational family engaged in science and exploration; his son built a career at NASA and in commercial space ventures tied to Silicon Valley founders and technology companies. He received honors connected to NASA Exceptional Service Medal, recognitions from state governments including Oklahoma awards, and acknowledgments from professional societies like Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. His legacy is preserved through archival collections held at repositories such as the Smithsonian Institution and oral histories in the National Air and Space Museum, and through influence on subsequent astronaut classes involved with the International Space Station and commercial crew programs with SpaceX and Boeing. Garriott died in Huntsville, Alabama, leaving a record of contributions that link mid-20th-century aeronautics institutions and contemporary space science initiatives.

Category:American astronauts Category:1930 births Category:2019 deaths