School kids out there who want to grow up to be rocket scientists, take note: Victor Whitehead, a member of Greenwood High School’s Class of 1957, was part of the team that recently launched NASA’s Parker Solar Probe on the first ever mission to “touch” the sun.
Specifically, Whitehead, a retired Air Force colonel who consults with United Launch Alliance (ULA), worked on readiness of the Delta IV Heavy rocket that carried the spacecraft, about the size of a small car, into space on Sunday from the launch pad at Cape Canaveral.
According to his brother, Donny Whitehead of Greenwood, Victor Whitehead “monitored the technical processes used and the launch countdown conduct itself. He also makes recommendations to the technical and senior staff at ULA.
“A little bragging is in order,” Donny Whitehead said in a Facebook post.
Victor Whitehead graduated from Mississippi State University and, according to his LinkedIn profile, has 52 years experience on space launch vehicles for both manned and unmanned missions. With 26 years of experience in the U.S. Air Force and 26 years at Lockheed-Martin, he has participated in over 250 space launches as an independent consultant for several aerospace companies.
The Parker Solar Probe mission will be the first to fly directly through the sun’s corona — the region of intense heat and solar radiation in its atmosphere that is visible during an eclipse. The probe will gather data, according to the NASA website, and answer questions about solar physics “that have puzzled scientists for decades.”
Donny Whitehead said his brother, Victor, worked on NASA’s famed Saturn mission several years back as well.
All was accomplished following a childhood background in Greenwood.
“He delivered the Commonwealth in 1953 and ’54,” Donny Whitehead said, proudly adding:
“In 1954, he was Carrier of the Year.”
•Contact Kathryn Eastburn at 581-7235 or keastburn@gwcommonwealth.com.
