View source for Bill Pickering (rocket scientist)

{{For|the American astronomer|William Henry Pickering}} 
{{Short description|New Zealand-born aerospace engineer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name                = Bill Pickering
| honorific_suffix    = {{post-nominals|country=NZL|ONZh|KBEh|size=100%}}
| image               = File:Pickering, Dr William H - 5021504112.jpg
| caption             = 
| birth_name          = William Hayward Pickering
| birth_date          = {{birth date|df=yes|1910|12|24}}
| birth_place         = [[Wellington]], New Zealand
| death_date          = {{death date and age|df=yes|2004|3|15|1910|12|24}}
| death_place         = [[Flintridge, California]], U.S.
| residence           = 
| citizenship         = New Zealand, United States
| fields              = 
| workplaces          = [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]]
| alma_mater          = 
| thesis_title        = A Geiger Counter Study of the Cosmic Radiations
| thesis_year         = 1936
| thesis_url          = https://thesis.library.caltech.edu/1789/3/Pickering_WH_1936.pdf
| doctoral_advisor    = [[Robert A. Millikan]]
| academic_advisors   = 
| doctoral_students   = 
| notable_students    = 
| known_for           = Space aeronautics pioneering
| influences          = 
| influenced          = 
| awards              = {{no wrap|[[Magellanic Premium]] {{small|(1966)}}<br />[[IEEE Edison Medal]] {{small|(1972)}}<br />[[National Medal of Science]] {{small|(1975)}}<br />[[The Franklin Institute Awards|Delmer S. Fahrney Medal]] {{small|(1976)}}<br />[[Japan Prize]] {{small|(1994)}}<br />[[Daniel Guggenheim Medal]] <small>(2000)</small>}}
| signature           = 
| footnotes           = 
}}

'''William Hayward Pickering''' {{post-nominals|country=NZL|ONZh|KBEh}} (24 December 1910 – 15 March 2004) was a New Zealand-born [[aerospace engineer]] who headed [[Pasadena, California|Pasadena, California's]] [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]] (JPL) for 22 years, retiring in 1976.<ref name=obit/><ref>{{cite journal | author=Casani, John R. | title=Obituary: William Hayward Pickering | journal=Physics Today | date=November 2004 | volume=57 | issue=11 | pages=86–87 |doi=10.1063/1.1839390| bibcode=2004PhT....57k..86C | doi-access=free }}</ref> He was a senior [[NASA]] luminary and pioneered the exploration of space. Pickering was also a founding member of the [[United States National Academy of Engineering]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.nae.edu/About/leadership/57773.aspx | title=Founding members of the National Academy of Engineering | publisher=[[National Academy of Engineering]] | access-date={{Format date|2012|10|21|df=yes}}}}</ref>

==Origins and education==
Born in [[Wellington]], New Zealand, on 24 December 1910, Pickering attended [[Havelock, New Zealand|Havelock]] School (also attended by [[Ernest Rutherford]]), [[Marlborough Region|Marlborough]], and [[Wellington College (New Zealand)|Wellington College]]. After spending a year at the [[University of Canterbury|Canterbury University College]], he moved to the United States (where he subsequently naturalized), to complete a bachelor's degree at the [[California Institute of Technology]] ("Caltech"), and later, in 1936, a [[PhD]] in [[Physics]]. His speciality was in [[Electrical Engineering]], and he majored in what is now commonly known in scientific vernacular as '[[telemetry]]'.<ref name=obit/>

==Jet Propulsion Laboratory==
[[File:Pickering, Dr William H - 5020896919.jpg|thumb|Pickering with a Moon model]]

William Pickering became involved with the [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]] (JPL) in 1944, during the Second World War.

As the Director of JPL, from 1954, Pickering was closely involved with management of the [[Private (missile)|Private]] and [[MGM-5 Corporal|Corporal]] missiles under the aegis of the U.S. Army.<ref name=obit/>

His group launched [[Explorer I]] on a [[Jupiter-C]] rocket from [[Cape Canaveral]] on 31 January 1958 less than four months after the Soviet Union had launched [[Sputnik]].

In 1958 the lab's projects were transferred to the [[National Aeronautics and Space Administration]] (NASA) and Pickering's team concentrated on NASA's unmanned space-flight program. JPL, under Pickering's direction flew further [[Explorer 3]] and [[Pioneer 4|Pioneer]] missions as well as the [[Ranger program|Ranger]] and [[Surveyor program|Surveyor]] missions to the Moon and the several [[Mariner program|Mariner]] flybys of Venus and Mars.

[[File:Pickering, Dr William H - 5021504594.jpg|thumb|Pickering at JPL]]

[[Explorer 3|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 [[satellite]]s. William Hayward Pickering is not to be confused with [[William Henry Pickering]], an [[astronomer]] from an earlier era.

At the time of his retirement as director, in 1976, the [[Voyager program|Voyager]] missions were about to launch on tours of the outer planets and [[Viking 1]] was on its way to land on [[Mars]].

==Retirement==
Pickering, keen to support authentic science in his home country, was Patron of New Zealand's only school-based research group, the Nexus Research Group, from 1999 until his death in 2004.
Between 1977 and his death in 2004, Pickering also served as Patron of the New Zealand Spaceflight Association; a non-profit organisation that existed from 1977 to 2012 to promote an informed approach to astronautics and related sciences.{{Citation needed|date=May 2021}}

==Gifford Observatory==
Pickering re-opened the [[Gifford Observatory]] as the guest of honour, on 25 March 2002.<ref>{{cite book|author=Douglas J. Mudgway|title=William H. Pickering: America's Deep Space Pioneer|url=https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/sp-4113.pdf|year=2008|publisher=Government Printing Office|isbn=978-0-16-081536-2|page=229}}</ref> He had been a frequent user of the observatory during his school days in Wellington College.

==Death==
Pickering died on 15 March 2004 of [[pneumonia]] at his home in [[La Cañada Flintridge, California]], US.<ref name=obit>{{cite news |author-link=John Noble Wilford | first=John Noble |last=Wilford |title=William H. Pickering, 93, Leader in Space Exploration, Dies |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/17/us/william-h-pickering-93-leader-in-space-exploration-dies.html |quote=William H. Pickering, a leader of the first successful space flight by the United States and its first two decades of planetary exploration, died on Monday at his home in La Cañada Flintridge, Calif. He was 93. |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=17 March 2004 |access-date=19 February 2015}}</ref>

==Honours==
* In 1964, he was awarded the Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]].<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=Achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#science-exploration}}</ref>
* In 1964 he presented the [[Bernard Price Memorial Lecture]] in South Africa.
* 1965 [https://web.archive.org/web/20080828214732/http://www.ipenz.org.nz/ The Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand] ([[IPENZ]]) [https://web.archive.org/web/20070701224327/http://www.ipenz.org.nz/IPENZ/who_we_are/honours_and_awards/Fellows_hon.cfm Honorary Fellowship]
* [[Magellanic Premium]] in 1966.
* [[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) investiture as a Knight Commander of the [[Order of the British Empire]] in 1975<ref>{{cite news |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19751126.2.21 |title=Scientist honoured |date=26 November 1975 |work=[[The Press]] |volume=115 |issue=34010 |page=2 |access-date=15 November 2024 |via=[[PapersPast]]}}</ref>
* In 1980 he was inducted into the [[International Space Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28242225/el_paso_times/|title=Space Hall of Fame Honors Four|newspaper=El Paso Times|location=El Paso, Texas|date=5 October 1980|last1=McClellan|first1=Doug|page=1B|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
*In 1979, Pickering was inducted into the [[International Air & Space Hall of Fame]] at the [[San Diego Air & Space Museum]].<ref>Sprekelmeyer, Linda, editor. ''These We Honor: The International Aerospace Hall of Fame''. Donning Co. Publishers, 2006. {{ISBN|978-1-57864-397-4}}.</ref>
* [[Japan Prize]] in 1994
* In the [[2003 Birthday Honours (New Zealand)|2003 Queen's Birthday Honours]], he was appointed an honorary member of the [[Order of New Zealand]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://dpmc.govt.nz/publications/queens-birthday-honours-list-2003 |title=Queen's Birthday honours list 2003 |date=2 June 2003 |publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |access-date=19 June 2020}}</ref> the highest civilian award in the New Zealand honours system.
* Pickering is one of the few non-politicians to have appeared on the [[Lists of covers of Time magazine|cover of ''Time'' magazine]] twice.

==Honorific eponyms==
In 2009 to mark the [[International Year of Astronomy]], William Hayward Pickering was selected along with cosmologist [[Beatrice Tinsley]] to have their names bestowed on peaks in the [[Kepler Mountains]] of New Zealand's [[Fiordland National Park]]. In December 2010 the [[New Zealand Geographic Board]] officially gazetted Mount Pickering as an official New Zealand place name.<ref name="MtPickering">{{cite web |url=http://www.rasnz.org.nz/101117KeplerPeaks.htm |title=Mount Pickering and Mount Tinsley in the Kepler Range|publisher=[[Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand|RASNZ]] |access-date=16 June 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429213320/http://rasnz.org.nz/101117KeplerPeaks.htm| archive-date=29 April 2011}}</ref>

Three roads in New Zealand have been named after Pickering, namely: Sir William Pickering Drive in the Canterbury Technology Park in [[Christchurch]]; Pickering Crescent in [[Hamilton, New Zealand|Hamilton]]; and William Pickering Drive in [[Auckland]].

In December 2018 New Zealand company [[Rocket Lab]] announced that the fourth launch of their [[Electron (rocket)|Electron]] rocket and their first mission for NASA's [[Educational Launch of Nanosatellites]] programme will be named "This one's for Pickering", in honour of Bill Pickering.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.rocketlabusa.com/news/updates/rocket-lab-prepares-to-launch-historic-small-satellite-mission-for-nasa/ |title=Rocket Lab prepares to launch historic CubeSat mission for NASA &#124; Rocket Lab |access-date=12 December 2018 |archive-date=13 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181213182406/https://www.rocketlabusa.com/news/updates/rocket-lab-prepares-to-launch-historic-small-satellite-mission-for-nasa/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Minor planet [[5738 Billpickering]] is named in his honour.<ref>|{{cite book |title=(5738) Billpickering In: Dictionary of Minor Planet Names |publisher=Springer |date=2003 |isbn=978-3-540-29925-7 |doi=10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_5417}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery mode=packed>
Image:Kennedy Receives Mariner 2 Model.jpg|Pickering and Kennedy with a model of the Mariner 2 spacecraft
File:Explorer 1 conference 1958.jpg|Pickering, Van Allen & Von Braun at NASA news conference.
Image:GiffordObservatory04p1024.jpg|Observatory Mural showing Sir William Pickering.
Image:Mt Pickering Summit.jpg|Mount Pickering Summit, Kepler Mountains Fiordland National Park New Zealand.
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|William H. Pickering}}
* [http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/William_Pickering IEEE Legacies]
*{{cite web|url= https://www.engineeringnz.org/programmes/heritage/engineering-hall-fame/william-pickering-1910-2004/ |title= William Pickering |publisher= IPENZ Engineering Heritage  |date= 2023 }} 
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040411204631/http://www.nzedge.com/heroes/pickering.html Biography of William Pickering by The New Zealand Edge]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20041026232031/http://beacon.jpl.nasa.gov/exhibits/directors/pickeringgal.htm Faces of Leadership: the Directors of JPL]
* [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/sputnik/pickering.html William H. Pickering on NASA website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161224011657/http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/sputnik/pickering.html |date=24 December 2016 }}
* [https://www.kiwispace.org.nz/display/PORTAL/NZ+Spaceflight+Association New Zealand Spaceflight Association]
* [http://www.rutherford.org.nz/biopickering.htm A biography by John Campbell]
* [http://www.rsnz.org/awards/pickering/obituary.php RSNZ obituary] ({{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040605062737/http://www.rsnz.org/awards/pickering/obituary.php |date=5 June 2004 }})
* [http://pr.caltech.edu/periodicals/EandS/articles/LXVII1/pickering.html Caltech obituary] ({{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040615052301/http://pr.caltech.edu/periodicals/EandS/articles/LXVII1/pickering.html |date=15 June 2004 }})

{{s-start}}
{{s-aca}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Louis Dunn]]}}
{{s-ttl|order=4th|title=[[List of directors of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory|Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory]]|years=1954 – 1976}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Bruce C. Murray]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{IEEE Edison Medal Laureates 1951-1975}}
{{Japan Prize}}
{{Winners of the National Medal of Science|engineering}}
{{Order of New Zealand}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pickering, William Hayward}}
[[Category:1910 births]]
[[Category:2004 deaths]]
[[Category:New Zealand electrical engineers]]
[[Category:Fellows of the IEEE]]
[[Category:People educated at Wellington College, Wellington]]
[[Category:Founding members of the United States National Academy of Engineering]]
[[Category:IEEE Edison Medal recipients]]
[[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering]]
[[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:NASA people]]
[[Category:National Medal of Science laureates]]
[[Category:New Zealand Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Honorary members of the Order of New Zealand]]
[[Category:People from Havelock, New Zealand]]
[[Category:University of Canterbury alumni]]
[[Category:California Institute of Technology alumni]]
[[Category:Deaths from pneumonia in California]]
[[Category:People from La Cañada Flintridge, California]]
[[Category:New Zealand emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire]]