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Author
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Topic: Payload specialist Robert Wood (1957-2009)
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SPACEFACTS
Member Posts: 301
From: Germany
Registered: Aug 2006
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posted 02-21-2009 02:00 AM
   
According to the St. Louis Dispatch, former payload specialist Robert J. Wood died in a car accident on February 19, 2009. The Missouri Highway Patrol has identified the victim as Robert J. Wood, 51, of Wright City. Wood, the father of five, was a triathlete who worked as an engineering manager at Boeing.Wood's car was rear-ended about 12:15 a.m. as he drove east on Interstate 70 near Bryan Road, police say. The patrol said Chad E. Frazer, 29, was arrested after he ran out of his wrecked vehicle and away from the scene. Investigators with the Missouri Highway Patrol say Frazer's blood-alcohol content was measured at .27 about 90 minutes after the crash. That's more than three times the legal limit of .08. Though he never flew in space, as an engineer with the McDonnell Douglas Aeronautics Company, Wood was chosen as the second industry payload specialist in March 1985 and served as backup to payload specialist Charles Walker on STS-61B. Wood was assigned to fly on STS-61M, but the mission was canceled after the loss of space shuttle Challenger.  Robert Wood (left) and Charles Walker in 1985. Credit: NASA via Spacefacts A moment of silence can be signified by an entry with no words and only a period. |
Lunar rock nut
Member Posts: 911
From: Oklahoma city, Oklahoma U.S.A.
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 02-21-2009 06:25 AM
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jasonelam
Member Posts: 691
From: Monticello, KY USA
Registered: Mar 2007
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posted 02-21-2009 08:06 AM
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cddfspace
Member Posts: 609
From: Morris County, NJ, USA
Registered: Jan 2006
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posted 02-21-2009 08:16 AM
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KSCartist
Member Posts: 2896
From: Titusville, FL USA
Registered: Feb 2005
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posted 02-21-2009 08:18 AM
So tragic to lose your life because of the reckless actions of another! My prayers go out to his family and I hope the person who killed him spends the rest of his life behind bars. Tim |
ea757grrl
Member Posts: 729
From: South Carolina
Registered: Jul 2006
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posted 02-21-2009 10:02 AM
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Daniel Lazecky
Member Posts: 480
From: Czech Republic-Europe
Registered: Oct 2007
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posted 02-21-2009 10:05 AM
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Apollo-Soyuz
Member Posts: 1205
From: Shady Side, Md
Registered: Sep 2004
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posted 02-21-2009 11:03 AM
Here is a cover autographed by him. It was a shame the experiment never flew. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 02-21-2009 11:12 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Apollo-Soyuz:
It was a shame the experiment never flew.
The experiment, the Continuous Flow Electrophoresis System developed by McDonnell Douglas, did fly on three missions with Charles Walker -- STS-41D, STS-51D, and STS-61B. |
Delta7
Member Posts: 1505
From: Bluffton IN USA
Registered: Oct 2007
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posted 02-21-2009 12:25 PM
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Apollo-Soyuz
Member Posts: 1205
From: Shady Side, Md
Registered: Sep 2004
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posted 02-21-2009 01:20 PM
Robert- You are absolutely 100% right. It was the payload bay unit which never flew.------------------
John Macco
Space Unit
Shady Side, Md. |
Henk Boshuijer
Member Posts: 450
From: Netherlands
Registered: May 2007
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posted 02-21-2009 01:23 PM
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ASCAN1984
Member Posts: 1049
From: County Down, Nothern Ireland
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 02-23-2009 03:52 PM
2008 was a terrible year for losing people in the spaceflight community and it appears that 2009 will be the same. Tragic to lose someone by someone else's actions. The world is a lesser place.  |
Sarahnaut
Member Posts: 15
From: Florida, USA
Registered: Nov 2008
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posted 02-23-2009 04:08 PM
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RMH
Member Posts: 577
From: Ohio
Registered: Mar 2001
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posted 02-23-2009 04:49 PM
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mjanovec
Member Posts: 3811
From: Midwest, USA
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted 02-23-2009 04:58 PM
quote:
Originally posted by ASCAN1984:
2008 was a terrible year for losing people in the spaceflight community and it appears that 2009 will be the same.
Sadly, we're going to be seeing an ever-increasing rate of losses in the coming years, as most of the pioneering astronauts, engineers, mission controllers, etc. enter their 80s and 90s (assuming they aren't already there). I hate to think how few of them will remain with us ten years from now. But it seems doubly sad when a guy like Wood is taken so suddenly in the prime of his life. 51 was way too young. My sympathies go out to his family and friends... |
ejectr
Member Posts: 1751
From: Killingly, CT
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 02-23-2009 05:14 PM
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chappy
Member Posts: 231
From: Cardiff, S. Wales, UK
Registered: Apr 2006
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posted 02-23-2009 05:33 PM
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NavySpaceFan
Member Posts: 655
From: Norfolk, VA
Registered: May 2007
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posted 02-23-2009 06:26 PM
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Kevin Carrico
Member Posts: 70
From: Salina, Kansas, USA
Registered: May 2004
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posted 02-23-2009 08:10 PM
Do we know yet if NASA is planning any kind of memorial service and do we know where a gift in memory of Robert can be made? |
dss65
Member Posts: 1156
From: Sandpoint, ID, USA
Registered: Mar 2003
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posted 02-23-2009 09:00 PM
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StarDome
New Member Posts:
From:
Registered:
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posted 02-23-2009 10:24 PM
God Bless |
mark plas
Member Posts: 385
From: the Netherlands
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 02-23-2009 10:34 PM
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TRS
Member Posts: 721
From: Wellington, New Zealand
Registered: Mar 2003
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posted 02-24-2009 03:31 AM
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Philip
Member Posts: 5952
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 02-24-2009 03:38 AM
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cosmos-walter
Member Posts: 691
From: Salzburg, Austria
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted 02-24-2009 04:03 AM
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fabfivefreddy
Member Posts: 1067
From: Leawood, Kansas USA
Registered: Oct 2003
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posted 02-24-2009 09:55 AM
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randy
Member Posts: 2176
From: West Jordan, Utah USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 02-24-2009 10:54 AM
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cddfspace
Member Posts: 609
From: Morris County, NJ, USA
Registered: Jan 2006
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posted 02-24-2009 01:29 PM
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ShuttleDiscovery
Member Posts: 152
From:
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 02-24-2009 01:54 PM
That's so tragic! RIP Robert Wood |
astro-nut
Member Posts: 946
From: Washington, IL
Registered: Jan 2006
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posted 02-24-2009 04:19 PM
.God Bless his family. |
Jay Chladek
Member Posts: 2272
From: Bellevue, NE, USA
Registered: Aug 2007
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posted 02-24-2009 10:15 PM
I did meet Charlie this weekend at Spacefest and it turns out we had a mutual friend in common as well who worked with him when they were at MDD (not Robert Wood). If Robert was anything like Charlie, then we truely have lost a great individual as these engineers selected for PS duties were more then just mere "payload".As for anything from NASA's side, I doubt it since the industry PSes didn't work for NASA at all and the only thing they had were the NASA patches on their flight suits. More then likely though considering Robert still worked for Boeing, there will likely be a memorial on that side as the former MDD community at Boeing in St. Louis is a tight one as I understand it. |
Jake
Member Posts: 464
From: Issaquah, WA U.S.A.
Registered: Jun 2002
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posted 02-25-2009 12:13 PM
.------------------
Jake Schultz - curator,
Newport Way Air Museum (OK, it's just my home) |
irish guy
Member Posts: 287
From: Kerry Ireland
Registered: Dec 2001
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posted 02-25-2009 12:42 PM
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ASCAN1984
Member Posts: 1049
From: County Down, Nothern Ireland
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 02-26-2009 03:16 PM
Does anyone have a more recent photo? |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 02-26-2009 04:11 PM
The St. Charles Journal has a photograph of Wood from August when he was competing in a triathlon (the same photo was reprinted by the St. Louis Dispatch in the story linked from the original notice of Wood's passing). |
GACspaceguy
Member Posts: 2476
From: Guyton, GA
Registered: Jan 2006
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posted 02-26-2009 06:43 PM
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skye12
Member Posts: 49
From: Austin, TX, USA
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 02-26-2009 09:45 PM
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spaceman1953
Member Posts: 953
From: South Bend, IN
Registered: Apr 2002
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posted 02-27-2009 04:08 PM
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spaceman
Member Posts: 1104
From: Walsall, West Midlands, UK
Registered: Dec 2002
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posted 03-01-2009 09:35 AM
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