Guyford Stever

AFTER the Soviet Union jolted the Americans on 4 October, 1957, by launching Sputnik, the first man-made satellite, Guyford Stever helped accelerate the US space programme.

The aeronautical engineer who had particular expertise in guided missiles was named chairman of a panel on space technology that played a key role in the formation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration – Nasa was established by Congress on 29 July, 1958.

He went on to be chief science adviser to presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford,

before, almost three decades after the creation of Nasa, his expertise would again play a role in restoring the US's confidence after another shock to the space programme.

On 28 January, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger blew up 73 seconds after lift-off, disintegrating over the Atlantic off central Florida and killing its crew of seven. A set of so-called O-rings between the booster segments had failed, allowing exhaust gases from the rocket to leak and cause the explosion.

Stever was appointed to lead the panel of engineers charged with overseeing the booster redesign. Thirty-two months later, the panel concluded that the system's "overall level of safety and reliability has been substantially improved". And on 29 September, 1988, the shuttle Discovery lifted off for a successful four-day mission.

Stever had been named to lead the panel in large part because of his four years as science adviser to Nixon and Ford.

He had been director of the National Science Foundation, an independent federal agency that supports scientific research, when Nixon abolished the White House Office of Science and Technology; he said he was not happy with its advice concerning antiballistic missiles and supersonic planes.

Stever was Nixon's adviser for three years but was kept at a distance. In 1976, at Ford's request, Congress re-established the Office of Science and Technology, and Ford chose Stever to lead it. In that post, he promoted exchanges between US and Soviet scientists, supported efforts to commercialise solar heating and lobbied for the financing of basic research.