The Flickr Williampickering Image Generatr

The three men responsible for the success of Explorer 1, America's first Earth satellite which was launched January 31, 1958, celebrate their success early the next morning. At left is Dr. William H. Pickering, then director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which built and operated the satellite. Dr. James A. Van Allen, center, of the State University of Iowa, designed and built the instrument on Explorer that discovered the radiation belts which circle the Earth. At right is Dr. Wernher von Braun, leader of the Army's Redstone Arsenal team which built the first stage Redstone rocket that launched Explorer 1.

NASA Media Usage Guidelines

Credit: NASA
Image Number: P8485
Date: February 1, 1958

Dr. William H. Pickering, (center) JPL Director, presenting Mariner spacecraft model to President John F. Kennedy, (right). NASA Administrator James Webb is standing directly behind the Mariner model. The Mariner 2 probe (launched on August 27, 1962) flew by Venus on December 14, 1962, sending back data on its atmosphere, mass, and weather patterns. It stopped transmitting in 1963 after delivering a wealth of scientific information. Mariner 2 was the first successful planetary flyby.

NASA Media Usage Guidelines

Credit: NASA/JPL
Image Number: P8698A
Date: January 17, 1963

Description: Dr. William H. Pickering, (left) Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory presents Mariner spacecraft photos to President Lyndon Baines Johnson.

NASA Media Usage Guidelines

Credit: NASA
Image Number: GPN-2000-000480
Date: July 29, 1965

William Pickering received the Medal of Ushakov for service in the Arctic convoy missions transporting crucial supplies to the Soviet Union between 1941 and 1945. It was presented to him on 8 April 2015 by the Consul General of Russia in Edinburgh Andrey Pritsepov in Abbeyfield Glasgow Springburn Care Home

Terraced houses round two sides of court. circa 1731-32. Brown brick, slate roofs. four storeys, two and three windows wide. Architraved doorcases to right of each front. No 3 with carved consoles to cornices. Grade II* listed.

This courtyard was originally known as Stroud's Court. In April 1731 William Pickering entered into a building agreement with the ground landlords, Sir Thomas and Lady Hanmer. In exchange for a new lease of the two old houses in St. James's Street and of the tenements in Stroud's Court (now Pickering Place), William Pickering agreed to demolish the existing buildings and to rebuild the whole property. The agreement also contained detailed specifications relating to the design, materials and workmanship of the new houses. British History Online

Full Description: (c. 1960) Left to right: Dr. William H. Pickering, former JPL Director, Dr. Theodore von Karman, JPL co-founder and Dr. Frank J. Malina, co-founder, and first director of JPL.

Identifier GPN-2000-000488

Some autographs from astronauts and space pioneers I received mostly at NASA events.

Left: James Irwin (1930-1991), Apollo 15 astronaut, by mail order June 1987. A Christian, he signed it "His Love from the Moon."

Right, top: Alan Bean (1932- ), Apollo 12 astronaut, at a book signing at JPL, Nov 1998.

Right, middle: Buzz Aldrin (1930- ), Apollo 11 astronaut, received at Carl Sagan Memorial Feb 1997.

Right, bottom left: William Pickering (1910-2004), JPL Director (1954-1976) during Explorer 1 launch, received at a speech at JPL Jan 2001 when he was 90 years old. I helped him to his car.

Bottom right: Ed Stone (1936- ), JPL Director 1991-2001, received Feb 1997.

Over a hundred thousand laborers, exercising the American work ethic, propelled the USA to excellence and leadership in the exploration of space, even after a late start. Happy Labor Day!

Page from Geoffrey Keynes Hand-list printed at the Chiswick Press

Like the Wright Brothers, Glenn Curtiss, and Alberto Santos-Dumont, William Pickering used bicycle technology to test aeronautical components, in this case various propellers.

Catalog #: 02-P-00257
Last Name: Pickering
First Name: Dr William H
Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive

Catalog #: 02-P-00256
Last Name: Pickering
First Name: Dr William H
Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive

Catalog #: 02-P-00271
Last Name: Pickering
First Name: Dr William H
Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive

Catalog #: 02-P-00260
Last Name: Pickering
First Name: Dr William H
Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive

Catalog #: 02-P-00259
Last Name: Pickering
First Name: Dr William H
Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive

Catalog #: 02-P-00254
Last Name: Pickering
First Name: Dr William H
Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive

Catalog #: 02-P-00272
Last Name: Pickering
First Name: Dr William H
Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive

Catalog #: 02-P-00266
Last Name: Pickering
First Name: Dr William H
Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive

Catalog #: 02-P-00261
Last Name: Pickering
First Name: Dr William H
Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive

Catalog #: 02-P-00263
Last Name: Pickering
First Name: Dr William H
Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive

Catalog #: 02-P-00274
Last Name: Pickering
First Name: Dr William H
Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive