User:JustinTime55/sandbox/Nicholas E. Golovin (physicist)

This page is about the American aerospace advisor. For the Russian general and historian, see Nikolai Golovin.

Dr. Nicholas E. Golovin
Golovin (center), conferring with NASA's Office of Manned Space Flight director Dr. D. Brainerd Holmes and Dr. Wernher von Braun, November 11, 1961
Born	(1912-03-18)March 18, 1912 Odessa, Ukrane
Died	April 1, 1969(1969-04-01) (aged 57)
Citizenship	United States
Education	Ph.D. in physics, 1955
Alma mater	George Washington University
Occupation	Physicist
Employer(s)	NASA, President's Science Advisory Committee
Known for	Opposing development of the Apollo Lunar Module
Title	Director of Systems Engineering
Term	1961-62

Nicholas E. Golovin (1912-1969) was a physicist born in Odessa, Ukraine, who emigrated to the United States and worked in various capacities for the federal government's executive branch after World War II, most lately as a technical advisor for aviation and space in the White House Office of Science and Technology from 1962 to 1968. In 1962, at the behest of President John F. Kennedy's Science Advisor Jerome Wiesner, he played an antagonistic role towards NASA's decision to use the lunar orbit rendezvous mode to achieve a piloted lunar landing. In 1960, he was NASA's Deputy Associate Administrator, then left to join private industry, and in 1961 he directed a joint NASA-Department of Defense Large Launch Vehicle Planning Group.

Prior to working for NASA, he was director of technical operations in 1959 for the Advanced Research Projects Agency, and in 1958 was chief scientist for the White Sands Missile Range. He held several administrative positions with the National Bureau of Standards from 1949 to 1958, during which time he obtained a PhD in physics from George Washington University in 1955. From 1946 to 1948, he worked for the Naval Research Laboratory.

Golovin took a leave of absence from the OST in 1968 as a research associate at Harvard University and as a fellow at the Brookings Institution, and died on April 1, 1969.

References

Bibliography

• Obituary, Washington Star, 30 Apr. 1969, p. B-6
• Obituary, and Washington Post, 30 Apr. 1969, p. B14.

- List of NASA references to Golovin

• Biographies of Aerospace Officials and Policymakers, E-J

www.history.nasa.gov/biose-j.html

• The Last Obstacles - On The Shoulders of Titans - Ch3-5

www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4203/ch3-5.htm

• Chariots For Apollo, ch2-7 - NASA Headquarters | NASA

www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4205/ch2-7.html

• Pressures by PSAC - Chariots For Apollo, ch4-4

www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4205/ch4-4.html

• NASA Released Caption on Dr. Nicholas E. Golovin Delivers ...

www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/release/1960/6-20-60.htm

• This New Ocean - Ch9-1 - NASA Headquarters | NASA

www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4201/ch9-1.htm

• Chariots For Apollo, ch3-2 - NASA Headquarters | NASA

www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4205/ch3-2.html

• NASA - 1960 Kennedy News Releases

www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/news/releases/1960/60nos.html

• Is Perfect Reliability Possible? - This New Ocean - Ch8-7

history.nasa.gov/SP-4201/ch8-7.htm

• Approaches to Reliability - This New Ocean - Ch7-4

www.history.nasa.gov/SP-4201/ch7-4.htm

• Chariots For Apollo, ch7-2 - NASA Headquarters | NASA

www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4205/ch7-2.html

• Influences on Booster Determination - NASA Headquarters | NASA

www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4205/ch2-6.html

• Reaching for the Moon - On The Shoulders of Titans - Ch3-3

www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4203/ch3-3.htm

... 30 Letter, Gilruth to Nicholas E. Golovin, 12 Sept. 1961; 

• Aeronautical and Astronautical Events of July-September 1961

www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/Timeline/1961-3.html Meeting in NASA headquarters, the group was headed by Dr. Nicholas E. Golovin, technical assistant to the Associate Administrator of NASA.

• ch8 - History Home

history.nasa.gov/SP-4308/ch8.htm

• biographical Appendix - History Home

history.nasa.gov/SP-4105/biographical_app.htm Nicholas E. Golovin (1912-1969), born in Odessa, Russia, but educated in this country (Ph.D. in physics, George Washington University, 1955) ...