Willam H. Pickering, JPL/NASA Photo

Sir William Hayward Pickering ONZ KBE (December 24, 1910—March 15, 2004) was a New Zealand-American who headed Pasadena, California's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for 22 years, retiring in 1976. He was a senior NASA luminary and pioneered the exploration of space. His group launched Explorer I from Cape Canaveral on 31 January 1958 less than four months after the Russians had launched Sputnik (much to the surprise of the Americans). Explorer III discovered the radiation field round the earth that is now known as the Van Allen radiation belt. Explorer 1 orbited for 10 years and was the forerunner of a number of successful JPL earth and deep-space satellites. William Hayward Pickering is not to be confused with William Henry Pickering, an astronomer from an earlier era. Image File history File links Pickering_NASA_photo. ... Image File history File links Pickering_NASA_photo. ... Badge of the Order of New Zealand The Order of New Zealand is the highest locally awarded honour in the New Zealand Honours System. ... Commanders Badge of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions; in decreasing order of seniority, these are... December 24 is the 358th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (359th in leap years). ... 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... March 15 is the 74th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (75th in Leap years). ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A New Zealand-American is any of the following: An American citizen or a person born in the United States of America who is: born in New Zealand has New Zealand ancestry New Zealand Americans include: Peter Arnett - TV Presenter William Hayward Pickering - NASA chief ... Pasadena is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. ... The NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in La Cañada Flintridge, near Los Angeles, California, USA, builds and operates unmanned spacecraft for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). ... NASA logo Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from an article revision dated 2005-09-01, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ... Explorer-I, officially known as Satellite 1958 Alpha, was the first United States Earth satellite and was sent aloft as part of the United States program for the International Geophysical Year 1957-1958. ... Cape Canaveral from space, August 1991 Cape Canaveral (Cabo Cañaveral in Spanish) is a strip of land in Brevard County, Florida, United States, near the center of that states Atlantic coast. ... January 31 is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Sputnik 1 The Sputnik program was a series of unmanned space missions launched by the Soviet Union in the late 1950s to demonstrate the viability of artificial satellites. ... Mission Description Explorer-III was nearly identical to Explorer I in design and mission. ... Van Allen radiation belts The Van Allen radiation belt is a torus of energetic charged particles ( a plasma) around Earth, trapped by Earths magnetic field. ... A satellite is any object that orbits another object (which is known as its primary). ... William Henry Pickering (February 15, 1858 – January 17, 1938) was an American astronomer, brother of Edward Charles Pickering. ... An astronomer or astrophysicist is a scientist whose area of research is astronomy or astrophysics. ...

Born in Wellington, New Zealand, Pickering attended Havelock School, Marlborough, and Wellington College. After spending one year at Canterbury University College he completed his bachelor's degree at the California Institute of Technology and completed a PhD in physics in 1936. His specialty was in electrical engineering and he concentrated on what is now telemetry. Between 1977 and his death in 2004, Pickering also served as Patron of the New Zealand Spaceflight Association; a non-profit organisation which exists to promote an informed approach to astronautics and related sciences. Wellington (Te Whanganui-a-Tara or Poneke) is the capital of New Zealand, the countrys second-largest urban area and the most populous national capital in Oceania. ... Marlborough is one of the regions of New Zealand, located in the northeast of the South Island. ... For other articles under the same title, visit the disambiguation page. ... This page is about the New Zealand University. ... The California Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Caltech)[1] is a private, coeducational university located in Pasadena, California, in the United States. ... PhD usually refers to the academic title Doctor of Philosophy PhD can also refer to the manga Phantasy Degree This is a disambiguation page — a list of pages that otherwise might share the same title. ... The first few hydrogen atom electron orbitals shown as cross-sections with color-coded probability density. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... This article treats electronics engineering as a subfield of electrical engineering, though this is not typical use in some areas. ... Telemetry is a technology that allows the remote measurement and reporting of information of interest to the system designer or operator. ...

Pickering on March 8, 1963 cover of TIME magazine.

Image File history File links Time_Cover_March_8_1963. ... Image File history File links Time_Cover_March_8_1963. ... A pocket watch, a common timekeeping device. ...

Honors

• IEEE Edison Medal in 1972, For contributions to telecommunications, rocket guidance and spacecraft control, and for inspiring leadership in unmanned exploration of the solar system.
• National Medal of Science in 1975 awarded by President Gerald Ford
• Honorary (because of his American citizenship) Knight Commander in the Order of the British Empire in 1975
• Japan Prize in 1994
• June 2, 2003 he became an honorary member of the Order of New Zealand.

• Mr. Pickering was one of the few non-politicians to have appeared on the cover of Time twice.

Pickering on July 23, 1965 cover of TIME magazine.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers or IEEE (pronounced as eye-triple-ee) is an international non-profit, professional organization incorporated in the State of New York, United States. ... The IEEE Edison Medal is presented by the IEEE for a career of meritorious achievement in electrical science, electrical engineering or the electrical arts. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... National Medal of Science The National Medal of Science, also called the Presidential Medal of Science, is an honor given by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. ... Commanders Badge of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions; in decreasing order of seniority, these are... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... The Japan Prize is awarded to people from all parts of the world whose original and outstanding achievements in science and technology are recognized as having advanced the frontiers of knowledge and served the cause of peace and prosperity for mankind. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal. // Events January Bill Clinton January 1 : North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) goes into effect. ... June 2 is the 153rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (154th in leap years), with 212 days remaining. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Badge of the Order of New Zealand The Order of New Zealand is the highest locally awarded honour in the New Zealand Honours System. ... (Clockwise from upper left) Time magazine covers from May 7, 1945; July 25, 1969; December 31, 1999; September 14, 2001; and April 21, 2003. ... Image File history File links Time_Cover_July_23_1965. ... Image File history File links Time_Cover_July_23_1965. ... A pocket watch, a common timekeeping device. ...

External links

• IEEE Legacies
• Biography of William Pickering by The New Zealand Edge
• Faces of Leadership: the Directors of JPL
• William H. Pickering
• New Zealand Spaceflight Association. [1]
• RSNZ obituary (Google cache)
• Caltech obituary (Google cache)

Pickering, Van Allen & Von Braun at NASA news conference.