posted 07-01-2014 10:15 AM               

The following biography was prepared by the National Space Society:

Frederick Ira Ordway III [was] an educator, consultant, researcher, and author on space flight and energy programs. His career began in various geological and engineering positions for Mene Grande Oil Company in San Tome, Venezuela in 1949. Five years later he was in the guided missiles division of the Republic Aviation Corporation.

Throughout the 1950's and 60's he held positions with the General Aeronautics Research Corporation, the National Research and Development Corporation, and Saturn Systems office at the Army Ballistic Missile Agency in Huntsville. It was in Texas, where he developed an association with Wernher von Braun. From 1960-64 he was Chief of Space Information Systems at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.

Next came a period of consulting: 1965-66 for Paramount Pictures "The Adventurer's"; and 1968-69 for the Encyclopedia Britannica, the American College Dictionary of the English Language, and Stanley Kubrick at MGM for "2001: A Space Odyssey."

Throughout the 1970's he was in various positions at the Department of Energy; 1975-77 he was Assistant to the Administrator of ERDA and 1977-1994 Policy and International Affairs director in the special projects office.

Credit: CG Publishing

Ordway [was] the author of numerous books including "Visions of Spaceflight: Images from the Ordway Collection," "The Rocket Team: From the V-2 to the Saturn Moon Rocket," and (with Wernher von Braun) "History of Rocketry and Space Travel."

posted 07-01-2014 10:01 PM               

Fred Ordway III, key technical consultant for the sci-fi masterpiece "2001: A Space Odyssey" a former NASA scientist for Saturn V rocket died Tuesday at his home on Monte Sano.

The 87-year-old Harvard graduate had an unquenchable thirst for learning about the universe and excelled as an educator, researcher, consultant and author.

posted 07-03-2014 06:52 AM               

Frederick I. Ordway III, 87, of Huntsville, AL, passed away Tuesday. Fred was an icon of the space community. He joined with the L5 Society and the National Space Institute which later became today's National Space Society. He served on the NSS Board of Directors and then on the Board of Governors. Fred was one of the most active Governors, making nearly every meeting and participating in many NSS International Space Development Conferences (ISDCs) as a speaker and panelist. The members of the National Space Society will miss him greatly.

National Space Society Vice President Karen Mermel said, "Fred was always willing to help and was one of the friendliest men I knew."

Fred Ordway was awarded the 2012 NSS Space Pioneer Award for a Lifetime of Service to the Space Community. The award honors him for his many contributions to the advancement of space technology and to the space community, which include working extensively with Dr. Wernher von Braun, and being the lead science advisor on the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, about which he wrote a retrospective. Fred showed the video 2001: Making of a Myth to the NSS Huntsville chapter, HAL5, just a couple of months ago. It does feature him...

posted 07-04-2014 01:26 AM               

Fred Ordway passed away in Huntsville, Alabama, on the morning of Tuesday July 1. We were friends for 40 years, but then I can’t think of anyone in the aerospace community with a wider circle of friends than Fred. We have a tradition at the Museum of honoring deceased aerospace leaders with a short obituary and photo posted near the information desk in our south lobby. My colleagues offered me the honor of preparing such a farewell for Fred.

...Ordway donated the collection of science fiction and pulp magazines he had begun as a youngster to Harvard University. His impressive library of books on the history of space flight went to the University of Alabama, Huntsville. A collection of space art, focusing on the work of Chesley Bonestell, formed the basis for his 1992 travelling exhibition, Blueprint for Space: Science Fiction to Science Fact. For those of us who knew him, and millions of space enthusiasts around the globe, the world will be a less interesting and entertaining place without Fred Ordway.

posted 07-14-2014 08:42 AM               

Although Mr. Ordway had expertise in aeronautics, his work on “2001” highlighted what might have been his most lasting contribution: as documentarian, historian and enthusiast. He wrote more than two dozen books. With Mr. von Braun, he wrote “History of Rocketry and Space Travel” (1975). Four years later, with Mitchell R. Sharpe, he wrote “The Rocket Team,” an account of early rocketry and advances made during and after World War II, including Mr. von Braun’s contributions for Germany, his home country, and the United States.