Explore Mars, Inc. is saddened by the passing of Jesco von Puttkamer. Jesco worked at NASA for fifty years. In 1962, he left Germany to join Werner von Braun’s rocket team in Huntsville, Alabama and worked as an engineer on the Apollo Program. In the early 1970s, he moved to NASA HQ where he worked on numerous programs, most recently working in management positions with the International Space Station (ISS) – also serving as a Russia expert in that program. Many people will recall that Jesco was the author of the ISS ‘On orbit Status Reports’
He received numerous medals, including the Exceptional Service Medal, and was the author of more than a dozen books.
“I had the pleasure of getting to know Jesco over the last couple of years,” commented Chris Carberry, Executive Director of Explore Mars. “Jesco was one of those dynamic personalities you never forget. He was also a passionate supporter of a human mission to Mars.”
Over the past few years, Jesco had been presenting a lecture and paper called “Project Mission to Mars,” documenting the long history of humans to Mars mission concepts. In 2011, Jesco presented this paper as part of the Explore Mars ISS and Mars program series.
Explore Mars mourns the passing of such a staunch Humans to Mars supporter and especially regrets that Jesco von Puttkamer never witnessed humans walking on Mars.
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