posted 03-16-2008 11:00 PM               

Former NASA astronaut David Low, 52, passed away on Saturday as the result of a chronic illness. A veteran of three shuttle missions and over 700 hours in space, including a spacewalk, Low's father was George M. Low, the Apollo-era manager and NASA deputy administrator. Low was selected as an astronaut in 1984 and remained with NASA for nearly 12 years before joining the Orbital Sciences Corp., where he most recently was Senior Vice President and the manager of the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program.

posted 03-17-2008 02:21 PM               

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NASA Mourns the Loss of Former Astronaut G. David Low

Former NASA astronaut G. David Low died March 15 at the age of 52. His career included contributions to NASA interplanetary missions, the space shuttle program and re-supply services for the International Space Station.

"David Low was one of the finest people, both professionally and personally, with whom I ever worked," NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said. "He was about as close to a perfect human being as human beings get. His loss will be felt deeply by all who were sufficiently fortunate to know him."

A veteran of three space flights, Low logged more than 714 hours in space, including a spacewalk of almost six hours. He was a mission specialist on STS-32 (Jan. 9-20, 1990) and STS-43 (Aug. 2-11, 1991), and the payload commander on STS-57 (June 21-July 1, 1993). Selected in May 1984, Low became an astronaut in June 1985. In addition to his three trips to space, he was a spacecraft communicator in the Mission Control Center for four other shuttle flights.

Low also served as the lead astronaut in the Man-Systems Group and Station Operations Group of the Space Station Support Office. In 1993, he was a member of the Russian Integration Team that worked for several months in Crystal City, Va., to define the changes from the old Space Station Freedom to the new International Space Station. In 1994, he served as the manager of the EVA Integration and Operations Office, and in 1995, as an assistant in the NASA Legislative Affairs office. He began his career at NASA in the Spacecraft Systems Engineering Section of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in March 1980.

Low was the recipient of three NASA Space Flight Medals, the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, and an honorary doctor of engineering degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

In February 1996, Low left NASA to join Orbital Sciences Corporation's Launch Systems Group in Dulles, Va., and he worked at Orbital until his death.

Low was born Feb. 19, 1956, in Cleveland, Ohio. He is survived by his wife, JoAnn, their three children, his mother, Mary Ruth Low, his brothers and sisters and their families. His father, George M. Low, was an Apollo-era flight director and the deputy administrator of NASA from 1969-1976.

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