William “Bill” Huber was born in Chicago, Illinois, on June 14, 1931, to Rudolph and Mary Huber. After graduating from Glenbard Township High School in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, he attended the University of Illinois, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in general engineering in 1953. He joined the U.S. Air Force in September of the same year and served until March 1958. In 1955, he completed a Master of Science degree in aeronautical engineering at the U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology. During his time in the Air Force, Huber was promoted to Captain. He worked as a project engineer for aircraft armament systems at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio and Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. In March 1958, he joined the U.S. Army’s rocket research and development team at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama.

In 1960, Huber was instrumental in getting the newly established George C. Marshall Space Flight Center off the ground. In its early days, he served in numerous supervisory and technical positions. During the Center’s restructuring in 1962, he acted as special assistant to the director in the Future Projects Office. Some of the positions Huber held at Marshall Space Flight Center included Deputy Manager of the 25kW Power Module Project Office, Manager of the Power Module Task Team, Deputy Manager, Interim Upper Stage (IUS)/Tug Task Team, and Director, Advanced Systems Office.

Huber played a key role in the planning and analysis of launch vehicles, space stations, and future missions to space. In 1973, he was awarded the NASA Exceptional Service Medal for his contributions to the Saturn launch vehicle and the Apollo lunar landing program.

In 1986, Huber was appointed to the position of Manager of the Orbital Maneuvering Vehicle Project at NASA’s George C. Marshall Space Flight Center. In 1989, he became the Associate Director for Advanced Planning, Program Development at Marshall Space Flight Center. He had a hand in the early stages of every major project that went through Marshall Space Flight Center, including the Saturn launch vehicle, the Apollo Program, Skylab, the Space Shuttle Program, and the International Space Station. In the early 1980s, he helped devise a plan for the rockets and systems that would be required for going to Mars.

Huber was a prolific writer and researcher, authoring and co-authoring numerous scientific papers on orbital maneuvering, the International Space Station, earth orbiting, and space transportation options. He presented at many symposiums and conferences, such as the 1976 Satellite Systems Conference in Montreal, multiple Space Station task force conferences, the 38th Congress of the International Astronautical Federation in 1987, the Mars Exploration Conference, and the 9th Symposium on Space Nuclear Power Systems in 1992.

Huber retired in 1992 after 39 years of service to his country in both the armed forces and NASA. Of his career, he would later say, “I stumbled into it, it was the best career I could have had. Those were the most interesting times in history…”.

Huber was an active member of a number of community organizations. He was a member of the Huntsville Botanical Garden Board of Directors and helped write a major grant to fund the Garden’s Center for Biospheric Education and Research, an innovative program at the time. He was a member of the Huntsville Ski Club and was an accomplished snow skier who spent time on numerous slopes in the U.S. and Canada. An active member of Trinity Methodist Church in Huntsville, Huber got his CDL so that he could serve as a volunteer driver for the church’s Senior Travel Program. He was also active in the UAH Academy of Lifetime Learning. Huber earned the required masterpoints to achieve life master rank in bridge, a favorite game that he enjoyed playing with friends as well as in local, state, and regional tournaments.

Huber passed away on November 7, 2006, at the age of 75. He is buried in Maple Hill Cemetery in Huntsville, Alabama.





































Sources

Contents of the Bill Huber Collection in the UAH Archives UAH Oral History Collections recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQN11NxlOfs Online obituaries: William Huber: https://obits.al.com/us/obituaries/huntsville/name/william-huber-obituary?id=13648504 James Huber (brother): https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/nwherald/name/james-huber-obituary?id=1594782