Aaron Cohen, one of NASA’s leading figures during his 33 years with the administration, has died aged 79 after a long illness.

Cohen was NASA’s chief systems engineer for the Apollo Command and Service Module and the Lunar Module, and went on to manage the Space Shuttle orbiter programme.

Cohen went on to become director of the Johnson Space Centre, in Houston, Texas, from 1986 to 1993. He was at the helm at the time of the Challenger shuttle tragedy.

Current NASA administrator, Charles Bolden, paid tribute to Cohen’s fortitude at that time. “Aaron provided the critical and calm guidance needed at the Johnson Space Center to successfully recover from the Challenger accident and return the space shuttle to flight.”

Less than a month before his death Cohen was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from his alma mater, and latterly his employer, Texas A&M University. After his retirement from NASA Cohen returned to Texas A&M as a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

“Aaron Cohen was one of my early mentors here in NASA and he was instrumental in the success of numerous pivotal achievements in human space flight,” said Bolden “We will miss him as a colleague, mentor, and a friend.”

Image: NASA