Charles Patrick Verschoore was born in Rock Island, Illinois on July 15, 1934. He lived in Illinois throughout his early life, and attended the University of Illinois, graduating in 1956 with a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering (1).

After college, he began working for the Chrysler Corporation’s Missile Division in Huntsville, Alabama. Chrysler had established itself as the primary contractor for the Redstone missile, and Charles was sent to their engineering operation in Huntsville to support the Saturn I and Saturn V launch programs. He worked as a test engineer from 1956 to 1963, where he helped design and build the propulsion test facilities for the Saturn program (2).

In 1963, he joined NASA at the Marshall Space Flight Center, where he began working in the test division. At Marshall he was part of the initial design and activation team that started up the Hot Gas Test Facility. He worked as part of the technical staff until 1974, when he transitioned to project management at NASA. In this role, he planned and managed the space shuttle External Tank major ground structural test project, which played a key role in ensuring the space shuttle program was ready. He also managed the Shuttle Test and Activation Contract, another key element in preparing for the shuttle program (2). As he described to the Marshall Star, “we’ve assessed the entire mission profile of the Space Shuttle on the pad and during the launch until the external tank is separated, and we have established a test envelope to assess design critical decisions” (3).

Charles worked as a project manager from 1974 to 1982, when he became the assistant and later deputy director for the Marshall Propulsion Laboratory. In this role, he helped guide NASA policy regarding propulsion technology activities and continued to support the Space Shuttle program. He directed the re-activation of the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) Technology Test Bed, which was used to test fire the SSMEs and provided major contributions to the development of future engine system technologies. He also took part in several Space Shuttle flight anomaly investigations, where he helped identify failure cause and determine any corrective actions (2). In 1994, Charles was granted the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal for his “notably outstanding leadership which has had a pronounced effect upon the technical or administrative programs of NASA” (4). In 1995, Charles retired from civil service. In his time with NASA, he helped develop and test numerous rocket propulsion systems used on the Apollo program and space shuttle.

After his retirement, he consulted for Lockheed Martin (1). On July 1, 2002, he began working for KT Engineering, continuing his work in test engineering (5). He worked here until 2009, when he retired for good (1). He lived in Madison until his death on October 8, 2018 (1).

Sources

[1] Charles Verschoore Obituary

[2] Charles Verschoore Resume – UAH Archives Charles Verschoore Collection, Box 1, Series 1, File 3

[3] Marshall Star, Vol. 17, No. 50, August 24, 1977 – UAH Archives Charles Verschoore Collection, Box 1, Series 1, File 11

[4] NASA/MSFC Annual Honors Day, June 14, 1994 – UAH Archives Charles Verschoore Collection, Box 1, Series 1, File 10

[5] KT Engineering 401(k) Plan – UAH Archives Charles Verschoore Collection, Box 5, Series 6, File 9