Roger D. Launius (born May 15, 1954) is an American historian and author of Lithuanian descent, a former chief historian of

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

. He retired in 2016 as Associate Director for Collections and Curatorial Affairs for the Smithsonian

National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum (NASM) of the Smithsonian Institution is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States, dedicated to history of aviation, human flight and space exploration. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Curriculum vitae
Retrieved April 7, 2018 Launius is a consulting historian in air and space history. He has written many books on space flight, and also published on the

history of the Latter Day Saint movement The Latter Day Saint movement is a religious movement within Christianity that arose during the Second Great Awakening in the early 19th century and that led to the set of doctrines, practices, and cultures called ''Mormonism'', and to the exis ...

Early life and education

Launius was born in

Galesburg, Illinois Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, United States. The city is northwest of Peoria, Illinois, Peoria. At the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, its population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County and the principal cit ...

, and was raised in

Greenville, South Carolina Greenville ( ; ) is a city in Greenville County, South Carolina, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, sixth-most pop ...

. He graduated from

Graceland College Graceland University is a private university with campuses in Lamoni, Iowa, and Independence, Missouri. The university offers degree completion and master's degree programs. It also offers undergraduate and graduate programs online. The universi ...

in 1976 and received a PhD in history in 1982 from

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

Career

From 1982 to 1990, Launius held several positions as a civilian historian with the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

. Between 1990 and 2002, he was the chief historian for NASA. In 2001, he held the Charles A. Lindbergh Chair in Aerospace History at the Smithsonian. From 2002-2006 he was Chair of the Division of Space History at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. From 2006-2013 he was Senior Curator, and from 2013-2016 Launius was Associate Director for Collections and Curatorial Affairs at the same institution. Launius contributed space policy analysis in the wake of the

Columbia Accident Investigation Board The ''Columbia'' Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) was an internal commission convened by NASA to investigate the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, destruction of the Space Shuttle Columbia, Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' during STS-107 upon atmo ...

2003 report. He has been a regular commentator on space-related issues for the news media. He was president of the

Mormon History Association The Mormon History Association (MHA) is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to the study and understanding of all aspects of Mormon history to promote understanding, scholarly research, and publication in the field. MHA was founded in ...

in 1993–94 and was president of the

John Whitmer Historical Association The John Whitmer Historical Association (JWHA) is an independent, nonprofit organization promoting study, research, and publishing about the history and culture of the Latter Day Saint movement. It is especially focused on the History of the Commu ...

in 1991–92.

Publications

Launius has written more than twenty books and 100 articles on the history of aerospace. Some titles include ''Historical analogs for the stimulation of space commerce'' (2014), ''Space shuttle legacy : how we did it and what we learned'' (2013), and ''Exploring the Solar System: The History and Science of Planetary Probes'' (2012). He has twice won the

AIAA The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is a professional society for the field of aerospace engineering. The AIAA is the U.S. representative on the International Astronautical Federation and the International Council of ...

History Manuscript Award, for''Coming Home: Reentry and Recovery from Space'' in 2011, and for ''Space Stations: Base Camps to the Stars'' in 2003. Launius has published on the history of the

Latter Day Saint movement The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by ...

. He won both the David Woolley Evans and Beatrice Evans Biography Award (1989) and the John Whitmer Historical Association Best Book Award for his work on Mormon history, ''Joseph Smith III: Pragmatic Prophet''. Launius studies the history of

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

in the United States, and published ''Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman'' with G. Michael Green.

Awards and honors

Launius other awards include: * John F. Kennedy Astronautics Award, American Astronautical Society, 2009, as an "individual who has made an outstanding contribution to public service through leadership in promoting our space programs for the exploration and utilization of outer space". * Secretary's Research Prize, Smithsonian Institution, 2009. * Roger R. Trask Award, Society for History in the Federal Government, 2009. * Director's Award, National Air and Space Museum, 2008. * Harmon Memorial Lecturer in Military History, United States Air Force Academy, 2006. * NASA Distinguished Service Medal, 2001. *

NASA Exceptional Service Medal The NASA Exceptional Service Medal is an award granted to U.S. government employees for significant sustained performance characterized by unusual initiative or creative ability that clearly demonstrates substantial improvement in engineering, a ...

, 1999. * Charles Thomson Prize, 1995, 1998, 2008, 2012 Launius is a fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

(2007), the

American Astronomical Society The American Astronomical Society (AAS, sometimes spoken as "double-A-S") is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC. The primary objective of the AAS is to promote the adv ...

(2001), and the

International Academy of Astronautics The International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) is a Paris-based non-government association for the field of astronautics. It was founded in Stockholm, Sweden) on August 16, 1960, by Dr. Theodore von Kármán. It was recognised by the United Nation ...

(2007). He is also a Fellow of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics (2021).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Launius, Roger D. 1954 births Living people Air force historians 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers American members of the Community of Christ Graceland University alumni American aviation historians Historians of the Latter Day Saint movement Louisiana State University alumni NASA people Writers from Greenville, South Carolina Smithsonian Institution people United States Air Force civilians American people of Lithuanian descent American male non-fiction writers