posted 04-19-2011 09:34 AM               

William J. O’Donnell NASA HQ PAO (1925-2011)

William J. O'Donnell, a NASA Public Affairs Officer who served in a number of different capacities from 1962 to 1981 including NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC, died April 6, 2011 after a long illness. He was 86.

After service in World War II including the Battle of Huertgen Forest, O'Donnell worked as a newspaper editor before joining the publication staff at Boeing Aircraft in Wichita, Kansas followed by a stint with North American Aviation. O'Donnell's first day with NASA coincided with Wally Schirra's Mercury flight in October 1962.

During his tenure with NASA he was an outspoken proponent of providing news outlets with real-time unedited transmissions during missions. This was severely tested during the Apollo 13 flight. O'Donnell later accompanied that crew on the overseas tour on their return to Earth. He would remain with the space agency through the first few flights of the space shuttle.

posted 06-10-2011 12:33 PM               

Bill was a strong advocate of NASA hooking up with countries in joint endeavours and helped a great deal to spread that word wherever he went.

Sadly, lost contact with him when he left NASA but his family should know that he was highly regarded by many folks around the world as well as within the NASA family. I am sure they know that already.

Bill was cut from a mold that has long been broken, especially in the PR business - he was several levels above the new interns in that capacity... but they would never know what I mean.