James Dean

FLORIDA TODAY

Gene Thomas, the launch director for space shuttle Challenger's ill-fated flight in 1986 and a former top official at Kennedy Space Center, died Tuesday, June 7, NASA and family friends confirmed. He passed away in a hospital near his home in Collierville, Tennessee after a long illness.

James A. "Gene" Thomas was born in 1934 in Meridian, Mississippi.

He joined NASA in 1962 during the Mercury program, and later served as launch director for five shuttle missions, from October 1985 through Challenger's 51-L mission launched on Jan. 28, 1986.

Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff from KSC in what was then the nation's worst human spaceflight disaster, killing all seven astronauts on board including "teacher in space" Christa McAuliffe.

Space Shuttle Challenger: In 73 seconds, everything changed

Engineers had raised concerns before the launch that unusually cold weather could compromise seals in the shuttle's solid rocket boosters, but accident investigators determined those concerns never reached senior managers including Thomas.

The experience was devastating to Thomas, like other members of the KSC team who prepared the shuttle for launch. But friends said he persevered to help sort out the accident’s cause and implement safety improvements.

“He never lost a beat in terms of handling it in a professional manner, which was difficult for him because of his personal ties with the crew,” said Bob Sieck, a retired shuttle launch director and close friend of Thomas' family. “There probably couldn’t have been a better person that could have handled it as well as Gene did.”

After Challenger, Thomas served as director of safety, reliability and quality assurance at KSC for several years until his appointment as the center's deputy director in 1990.

“He made a major contribution to the safety of shuttle launches in the future,” said Hugh Harris, the voice of NASA’s Challenger countdown broadcast and author of “Challenger: An American Tragedy.”

A former Merritt Island resident, Thomas in 2006 published a memoir, "Some Trust in Chariots," about his Challenger experience and how it tested his Christian faith.

"No experience is more strongly etched upon my mind than the events of January 28, 1986, the historic day the Challenger exploded 10 miles above the Atlantic coast off the Kennedy Space Center," he wrote.

Thomas received numerous NASA awards before his 1997 retirement, including the Exceptional Service Medal and Outstanding Leadership Medal.

He is survived by his wife, Juanita; daughters Karen and Wendy; a son, Chuck; and grandchildren.

Contact Dean at 321-242-3668 orjdean@floridatoday.com.And follow on Twitter at@flatoday_jdeanand on Facebook atfacebook.com/jamesdeanspace.

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