Roger Chassay Collection

Collection

Identifier: MC-35

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection consists mostly of technical publications and books, along with a handful of personal notes. Also included is a single roll of 16mm film.

Dates

Creation: 1973 - 2006

Creator

Chassay, R. (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research in the Archives & Special Collections reading room. Handling guidelines and use restrictions will be communicated and enforced by archives staff members.

Conditions Governing Use

This material may be protected under U. S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S. Code) which governs the making of photocopies or reproductions of copyrighted materials. You may use the digitized material for private study, scholarship, or research. Though the University of Alabama in Huntsville Archives and Special Collections has physical ownership of the material in its collections, in some cases we may not own the copyright to the material. It is the patron's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in our collections.

Biographical / Historical

Roger Chassay (born 1938) is an American system engineer who worked with NASA before becoming a self-employed aerospace consultant.

Roger Chassay graduated from Louisiana State University in 1961, after which he joined the Air Force, serving for three years (“Roger Chassay (Space History Interviews)”). NASA offered Chassay a job in 1964, and he gladly accepted, thus beginning his 38-year career there (Hawkins, “Roger Chassay”).

At NASA, Chassay worked on a variety of projects, including the Skylab program; the Space Processing Applications Rocket project (SPAR), which later transformed into the European TEXUS sounding rocket program; space experiments to determine the molecular structure of protein crystals (and various other Space Shuttle experiments); and the Space Station program (“Roger Chassay”).

Later, Chassay became the project manager for the first lightning detection satellites (“Roger Chassay). These satellites allowed lightning to be observed from space, which is far easier and more accurate than doing it from the ground (“Tracking Lightning from Space: How Satellites Keep You Safe During Thunderstorms”). The technology this work helped create allows modern weather stations to predict storms with greater accuracy (“Tracking Lightning from Space”).

Chassay also served as the assistant program manager for Gravity Probe B, a satellite that was to test the geodetic effect and frame-dragging (“Roger Chassay”). Chassay stepped down from his position at NASA in 2002, but he stayed with the Gravity Probe B team for a while after the satellite’s successful 2004 launch (“Roger Chassay”).

Chassay eventually became a self-employed aerospace consultant.

Sources

Hawkins, Kari. “Granddad Jumps Into Sports For Healthy Life.” Www.army.mil, 2 Apr. 2010, www.army.mil/article/36819/granddad_jumps_into_sports_for_healthy_life.

"Roger Chassay (Space History Interviews)." YouTube, uploaded by UAHSalmonLibrary, 25 April, 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=81YTnrFqQWw.

“Tracking Lightning from Space: How Satellites Keep You Safe During Thunderstorms.” NOAA National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS), 16 July 2018, www.nesdis.noaa.gov/content/tracking-lightning-space-how-satellites-keep-you-safe-during-thunderstorms.

Extent

6 Linear feet (6 boxes.)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Roger Chassay, 2007.

Related Materials

Roger Chassay (Space History Interviews)

Processing Information

Collections are processed to a variety of levels, depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived research value, the availability of staff, and competing priorities. The library attempts to provide a basic level of preservation and access for all collections as they are acquired, and does more extensive processing of higher priority collections as time and resources permit.