19 Facts About Owen Garriott

Owen Kay Garriott was an American electrical engineer and NASA astronaut, who spent 60 days aboard the Skylab space station in 1973 during the Skylab 3 mission, and 10 days aboard Spacelab-1 on a Space Shuttle mission in 1983.

Owen Garriott was the elected president of the senior class.

Owen Garriott served as electronics officer in the United States Navy from 1953 to 1956.

Owen Garriott performed research and led graduate studies in ionospheric physics after obtaining his doctorate, and authored or co-authored more than 45 scientific papers, chapters and one book, principally in areas of the physical sciences.

In 1965, Owen Garriott was one of the six scientist-astronauts selected by NASA.

Owen Garriott was an Extra Class amateur radio operator holding call sign W5LFL.

Owen Garriott operated the world's first amateur radio station in space and, on December 1,1983, made the first amateur radio contact from space using a Motorola handheld 2-meter radio while on board the STS-9 Space Shuttle Columbia mission.

Between these missions, Owen Garriott received a NASA fellowship in the Space Station Project Office.

Owen Garriott devoted time to several charitable activities in his hometown, including the Enid Arts and Sciences Foundation of which he was a co-founder in 1992.

Owen Garriott formed a 501 public philanthropic Owen Garriott Family Foundation to finance the aforementioned adventure travel for himself, his wife and other members of his family.

Owen Garriott married Helen Mary Walker, his high school sweetheart, in 1952.

Owen Garriott was in mission control at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for the launch and was in attendance when his son returned 12 days later.

Owen Garriott died on April 15,2019, at his home in Huntsville, Alabama.

Owen Garriott was a member of the following organizations: American Astronautical Society, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, American Geophysical Union, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Association of Space Explorers, Astronaut Scholarship Foundation.

Owen Garriott was one of five Oklahoman astronauts inducted into the Oklahoma Aviation and Space Hall of Fame in 1980, the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1997, the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame in 2000, and the Enid Public Schools Hall of Fame in 2001.

Owen Garriott was presented an Honorary Doctorate of Science from Phillips University in 1973.

Owen Garriott was co-author, with fellow astronaut Joseph Kerwin and writer David Hitt, of Homesteading Space, a history of the Skylab program, published in 2008.

Owen Garriott was co-author of Introduction to Ionospheric Physics with Henry Rishbeth.

Owen Garriott was a contributor to the book NASA's Scientist-Astronauts by David Shayler and Colin Burgess.