George Levin, Former ASEB Director and Former NASA Official, Passes Away

George M. Levin, who spent 35 years at NASA before joining the National Research Council (NRC) as Director of the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board (ASEB), died yesterday after a long battle with lung cancer.  He was 72.

From 1962-1981, he worked at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center on programs including the Nimbus weather satellite, Pioneer-Venus, and the Hubble Space Telescope, for which he managed development of its first five scientific instruments.   He then moved to NASA Headquarters where he managed the development of 17 successful flight demonstrations launched on either the space shuttle or Delta II.  In 1991, he took over responsibility for managing NASA’s orbital debris program and led the U.S. delegation to the Interagency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC). 

Levin retired from NASA in 1997 and became Director of the ASEB, a position he held until his NRC retirement in 2007.

A memorial service will be held at 1:00 pm ET on June 20 at Fairfax Memorial Funeral Home, 9902 Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA.