AC_1965_Web

160 AN T I OC H CO L L E G E C L A S S O F 19 6 5 5 0 t h A N N I V E R S A R Y B O O K A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z S T R A F E L L A STRAFELLA RICHARD THEN AND NOW 4 B.S. Mathematics 4 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute FAMI LY 4 Son, Christopher Alan 4 Daughter, Cheryl Anne ADDRESS 4 8266 Quill Point Dr. Bowie, MD 20770 CONTACT rstrafella@verizon.net A F T E R G R A D U A T I N G F R O M Antioch in 1965 with a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics, I attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., working to- wards my master’s degree in astron- omy. However, soon after entering, Uncle Sam requested my presence in the U.S. Army for two years. During my Army tour I worked at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville,Ala. as a propulsion engineer. It was there that my life took a major turn. Working with the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center propulsion engineers there in Huntsville de- veloping the Saturn launch vehi- cles for the Apollo space missions led me to join NASA after leaving the Army. I began my NASA career working at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.— starting as a data/maneuver analyst during the Gemini space missions, then as a f light dynamics engineer after the Apollo missions, and fi- nally as an aerospace engineer for the last 21 years. I was the Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission planning manager. I worked at NASA for over 43 years before re- cently retiring.There are too many highlights to mention while work- ing for NASA, but working on con- sole for all the Apollo missions and training the astronauts for and ex- ecuting all five Hubble servicing missions are definitely near the top of the list. I was married just prior to leav- ing the Army but divorced shortly thereafter. However, I do have a son and a daughter from the mar- riage and I now have two wonder- ful grandchildren. I’ve enjoyed run- ning throughout my life (especially having competed in the Boston and New York City marathons several times), but had to stop two years ago after wearing out the carti- lage in my knees. The past couple of years during my retirement I’ve been touring the world and enjoy- ing wonderful people and places. When not traveling, I work on my coin collection, enjoy reading, bicy- cling, and looking for that special woman.