John Charles
Keith’s note: John Charles has died. I’ll post more information when I get it. I first met John in 1987 during what was the first week or two working for NASA when I made a trip to JSC. He was such a nice man. No one believed more in NASA than John did. According to a note circulating around NASA: “The life sciences directorate at JSC is coordinating a flag-raising at Mission Control and fundraising for a memorial tree. [it] would be great to fund a couple of aerospace physiology graduate school scholarships in his name.”
Ad Astra, John.
.@NASA is saddened to learn of the passing of Dr. John B. Charles. He served for 33 years at NASA, retiring as chief scientist for the Human Research Program @NASA_Johnson. He leaves behind a lasting contribution, and our thoughts are with his family and friends. pic.twitter.com/qTroMX0qOu
— Vanessa Wyche (@v_wyche) January 19, 2022
Keith’s update: The following note has been circulating at NASA: “Space Medicine Association, which is an AsMA constituent organization of which John is a past president, is setting up a John Charles scholarship. For people who would like to donate to the scholarship fund, here is the information:
Here is how people can donate:
– go to www.AsmaFoundation.org
– click on “Ways to give”
– click on the Donate button
– enter amount and other information as requested
– in the notes section write ” in memory of Dr. John Charles” or “SMA Dr. John B Charles Scholarship Fund”
Note: The Foundation is a 501c3 charitable organization so donations are tax deductible. We will direct all donations to the SMA fund within the Foundation. The Space Medicine Association will create the Scholarship and will include Kathy Charles in the development of the details.”
I first met John while working on Space Station Freedom, but we worked together far more during the Shuttle-Mir Phase 1 Program. John was one of the many dedicated and conscientious people who enthusiastically took advantage of that rather difficult program. We also worked together on ISS, and that was an easier time for all. His intelligence and quiet competence were reassuring, and his warm and gentlemanly demeanor made any interaction richly rewarding.
John was a good dude. He will be missed.
John was not only a colleague but a friend. He was funny, articulate, and brilliant. I worked with him primarily on Spacelab-J’s Lower Body Negative Pressure (LBNP) device. He was an easy PI to work with, always accommodating, and open to discussion on his experiment. I also worked with him on ISS. We were lucky to have him at NASA and I was luckier to have him as a friend. Thanks for the great memories, John. See you on the other side.
John was a great person to work with, I worked with him on the Lower Body Negative Pressure device on Spacelab, on the Phase 1 (NASA and Mir) program, and later on some space history like the Manned Orbiting Laboratory.
It has been too long since I saw him last, but John was a friend and colleague; really terrible news.
I’m truly sorry for the loss of your good friend and learned colleague.
John was kind enough to give a 2 hour primer on space providing definitions and detailed information on human spaceflight challenges. We recorded it and posted it for future generations. you can hear his deep baritone and see his wonderful slides here: https://www.youtube.com/wat…
I am saddened to learn that John Charles has died. No one at NASA knew more about the issues associated with human space exploration than he did. John was kind, diplomatic, and smart. And, he had the rare ability to deliver an informative and entertaining briefing on almost any topic.
I remember him from USML1 and USML-2. I did not know him well, but agree he was always very affable and easy to work with. We’re at that age where many former colleagues are passing away. It’s sobering.