Shurney, Robert E.
1921-2007 · Contribution: 1960s-1970s
NASA aerospace engineering: designed the lightweight aluminum/wire-mesh tires for the Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle and the Skylab waste-control system (space toilet), later the basis for the Space Shuttle's
Portraits are AI-generated interpretations, not photographs.
Impact on the world
Lunar rover tires enabled Apollo 15, 16, and 17 surface traverses; his Skylab waste-management design carried into the Shuttle program. Awarded the NASA Exceptional Service Medal.
Life & background
African-American aerospace engineer at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, born Dec 29, 1921 in Dublin, GA; earned a PhD in physics (1986). The Dr. Robert Shurney Legacy Center in Huntsville, AL (2021) is named for him. Died 2007.
Sources
- NASA Watch; Adventist Encyclopedia (ESDA); Smithsonian
More in Technology & Engineering
Abebe, Rediet
1991-
Algorithmic fairness research
Adkins, Rodney
1958-
IBM's first African American corporate officer and Senior Vice President (2007); an engineering and development leader who helped launch the IBM ThinkPad and led IBM's Systems & Technology Group; inducted into the National Academy of Engineering (2005)
Alexander, Archie
1888-1958
Civil engineering for roads and bridges
Austin, Wanda M.
1954-present
Aerospace and systems engineering: satellite and payload system acquisition, systems engineering, and system simulation for national-security space programs