Thomas O. Paine
Thomas Otten Paine (November 9, 1921 – May 4, 1992) was an American engineer, scientist and advocate of space exploration, and was the third Administrator of NASA, serving from March 21, 1969, to September 15, 1970.
Thomas O. Paine
May 4, 1992 (aged 70)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Barbara Taunton Pearse
4
Brown University (A.B.)
Stanford University (M.S., PhD)
During his administration at NASA, the first crewed lunar landing by Apollo 11 was flown as were three other Apollo missions. Paine was also deeply involved in preparing plans for the post-Apollo era at NASA.
Early life and education[edit]
Born in Berkeley, California, Paine attended public schools in various cities and graduated from Brown University in 1942 with an A.B. degree in engineering. At Brown, Paine joined Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity. In World War II, he served as a submarine officer in the Pacific and in the subsequent Japanese occupation. In late 1945, Paine became the executive officer of the prize crew which sailed the Japanese aircraft-carrying submarine I-400 from Japan to Pearl Harbor.[1] He qualified as a Navy deep-sea diver and was awarded the Commendation Medal and Submarine Combat Insignia with stars. From 1946 to 1949, Paine attended Stanford University, receiving an M.S. degree in 1947 and Ph.D. degree in 1949 in physical metallurgy.[2] During his career, Paine received honorary Sc.D. degrees from Brown, Clarkson College of Technology, Nebraska Wesleyan University, the University of New Brunswick, Oklahoma City University, and an honorary D.Eng. degree from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Personal life[edit]
Paine was married to Barbara Helen Taunton Pearse of Perth, Australia. They had four children: Marguerite Ada, George Thomas, Judith Janet, and Frank Taunton.[7]
Paine died of cancer at his home in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles on May 4, 1992, at the age of 70.[7]
In 1972, Paine donated his papers to the Library of Congress, where they are currently open and available in the Manuscript Division. Although there is one container of classified material, the other 183 are open and available to researchers.
In media[edit]
In the 1966 BBC TV Panorama documentary California 2000, Paine was interviewed and offered predictions on how technology will impact society.
In the 1995 movie Apollo 13, Paine is played by Joe Spano. In the 1996 TV movie Apollo 11, he is played by Carmen Argenziano. In the 1998 TV miniseries From the Earth to the Moon, he is played by Sam Anderson.
A fictionalized Thomas O. Paine is depicted in the 2019 alternate history web television series For All Mankind. The name of the show is inspired by the inscription on the Apollo 11 lunar plaque[8] Paine was instrumental in bringing about. In the show's setting, Paine stays on as NASA administrator until Nixon loses re-election to Ted Kennedy in 1972. He is then brought back by Reagan when elected in 1976 and remains NASA administrator until killed in the 1983 Korean Air Lines Flight 007 incident. In the show Paine is played by Dan Donohue.