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It is with sincere regret that we note the passing of Fred Ordway (1927-2014). A man of many talents, he was the youngest member of the American Rocket Society (now the AIAA), having been accepted as a member at age 13. His request for membership showed a talent and interest that belied his age, which the Society only discovered when he showed up for his first meeting.
Ordway had an illustrious career as an engineer at Marshall Space Flight Center, where he worked for Wernher von Braun. He also famously worked as the scientific consultant to Stanley Kubrick on “2001: A Space Odyssey.” In this image, Ordway (conspicuous in his tennis whites) talks with (l-r) astronaut Deke Slayton, Arthur C. Clarke, Stanley Kubrick, and George Mueller (Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight) on set.
Ordway is the author of more than 30 books, including “Visions of Spaceflight: Images from the Ordway Collection, and (with Wernher von Braun) “History of Rocketry and Space Travel.”
Bah.
I had very limited interaction with Fred many years ago. Seemed a nice feller. And his influence on space history by way of his writing and his work on “2001” will echo down the ages.