WASHINGTON, March 1 (UPI) -- Spaceflight pioneer Aaron Cohen, former director the Johnson Space Center in Houston, died following a lengthy illness, the U.S space agency said.
NASA said Cohen, who was 79, spent 33 years with the space agency before leaving in 1993 to accept an appointment as a professor at Texas A&M University. At the time he was serving as acting deputy administrator of NASA.
Cohen, who joined NASA in 1962, died Thursday.
"Aaron Cohen was one of my early mentors here in NASA and he was instrumental in the success of numerous pivotal achievements in human space flight." said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. "His engineering expertise and rigor were tremendous assets to our nation and NASA. Aaron provided the critical and calm guidance needed at the Johnson Space Center to successfully recover from the Challenger accident and return the space shuttle to flight. We will miss him as a colleague, mentor and a friend."
Among the many honors Cohen received were the highest award given for federal executives, the Presidential Rank of Distinguished Executive, which he received in 1982 and 1988. He was also presented NASA's highest honor, the Distinguished Service Medal, three times.
