Peter R. Kurzhals died on 18 July 2024, at the age of 86.
Kurzhals had more than 50 years of experience in human spaceflight – from the beginning of NASA space programs, development of the early manned missions of the Apollo program, and the moon landings, through the Space Shuttle, the International Space Station, and the new private space commercialization initiatives.
Kurzhals obtained his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. (1966) in Aerospace Engineering from Virginia Tech University He went on to complete a Program for Management Development from Harvard Business School in 1977.
He began his career in the 1960s at the Stability and Control Branch of NASA Langley Research Center. While serving at NASA Langley, he had a new idea to control the attitude of spacecraft: a double‑gimbaled Control Moment Gyro system. It was daring and seemingly counter to everything that was on any spacecraft at the time. Wernher von Braun said it was just what they needed and committed to building it. von Braun became his mentor, and Kurzhals worked with him for several years.
In 1969, Kurzhals moved to NASA Headquarters as chief of the guidance and control branch. He later served as director of the Electronics Division. From 1979 to 1980, he was director of NASA’s Space Division. He was then named assistant director, Mission Operations at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, where he managed mission control center upgrades and led the transition to an online information capability to greatly reduce operating costs. He was appointed as charter member of the Senior Executive Service (SES 4).
Kurzhals left NASA in 1984, and joined Booz Allen Hamilton as a senior consultant where he led a team that developed a plan for a fully automated Management Information System for NASA. He then worked for the McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Company, becoming director, Advanced Space Flight Programs in 1992, leading research into future human space exploration. After Boeing purchased McDonnell Douglas, Kurzhals became director of their product support for the ISS. He retired in 2011 as director of Systems and Software for Boeing.
Kurzhals served on the Space Station Committee of the International Astronautical Federation. He was elected as a Sigma Xi Fellow in recognition of contributions to the Society and the research enterprise, and he served as president of Sigma Xi Orange County Chapter. An AIAA member since 1959, Kurzhals was an AIAA Fellow, served as programs chair for AIAA Orange County Section and on the AIAA Board of Directors, and was recognized with a 2001 AIAA Sustained Service Award. He also was recognized as the Orange County Engineer of the Year by the Orange County Engineering Council.
