Comments on: Roger Doxsey, 1947 – 2009

By: ML

ML — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 11:57:58 +0000

I am Rodger’s sister and I can confirm the ‘d’ in Rodger. He was born on our Uncle Rodger’s birthday and named for him. Thanks Doug, for noting it. Usually it is the ‘s’ in Doxsey that is forgotten!

My family and I were touched by the outpouring of support from Rodger’s “Hubble Family”.

Thank you for the kind words.

By: Chris B

Chris B — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 04:48:20 +0000

The three people who could have claimed the most credit for HST’s are now dead. Lyman Spitzer proposed a large space telescope and advocated for it from 1946, John Bahcall made sure it got paid for, and Rodger made sure it worked on a practical daily basis for the best part of 20 years. Rodger received significant accolades and awards for his quiet, unassuming work but perhaps never really received and certainly never sought the public notice that he deserves. Only one person in all history can be responsible for operations of the first observatory to see with clarity above the earth’;s atmosphere. Roger achieved that distinction and did so with humility and absolute mastery. He made sure we could operate HST, made sure we could diagnose and fix it, made sure we could improve it, and made sure that the thousands of HST papers and discoveries were possible. Few people were essential to HST’s success. Rodger’s commitment ensured that it worked, survived its initial setbacks, and produced its legacy.

By: Jim Kelley

Jim Kelley — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 04:12:29 +0000

I had the pleasure of working with Rodger several times while working on HST for Lockheed. Rodger was one of a few people who were cornerstones of HST. It is hard to imagine Science Operations without him. Just a terrific person in every way.

By: Cindy

Cindy — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:02:20 +0000

Doug,

Which years were you at STScI? I was there from 89-94 and used to be the FOS TA. Now that you mention it, Rodger was one of the effective managers unlike some of the others.

By: Doug

Doug — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:17:08 +0000

BTW, it really was spelled “Rodger”. You might want to change that in your announcement.

By: Doug

Doug — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:27:02 +0000

Oh wow, this hit me kind of hard. I worked at StSci for 12 years with Rodger. (People always forget the “d”. ) He was easily one of the most competent people there as well as one of the hardest working.

As a rule, scientists in management positions at StSci did not work out well. They were evaluated by their science production mostly by journal articles, not by there managerial skill. Rodger was the biggest exception. He KNEW operations and understood how the systems worked at a very detailed level. He was always soft-spoken and I don’t think I ever saw him lose his temper.

He was one of the good ones. I hope he knew how much we all appreciated him. RIP, Rodger.

By: Joe

Joe — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:07:55 +0000

I worked (contractor) at STScI in ’85, and met Roger many times. He was brilliant and good man. RIP.

By: Dave L

Dave L — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:39:34 +0000

I worked with Roger for 20+ years….he was always very professional and knew HST like the back of his hand. Hubble is a marvelous machine but without people like Roger behind the scenes, the spacecraft would never have made the impact it has. The HST family of engineers and scientists have lost a great man.

By: ToSeek

ToSeek — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:31:37 +0000

I attended a seminar at the Smithsonian this past Saturday given by STScI senior astrophysicist Mario Livio, who mentioned Doxsey’s demise and noted that Roger knew more about Hubble than anyone.

By: bassmanpete

bassmanpete — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:41:43 +0000

Phil, I think your dyslexic fingers were at work in paragraph 2. Didn’t you mean casually not causally?

Sad to hear of Roger’s passing, but at least he saw the results of his work unlike, for example, R. J. Mitchell (the Spitfire), and Alfred Wegener (continental drift).

By: StevoR

StevoR — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:31:26 +0000

My condolences to his friends and family. A sad loss for the wider scientific – and other – world too. I wish I could’ve known or met him.

By: Cindy

Cindy — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 23:51:16 +0000

I was a lowly technical assistant at STScI, but I remember him being one of the “nice” bigwigs. Didn’t really know him – sat in on some meetings where he was there, especially as we were planning things for the first servicing mission.

Sorry to hear that he died.

By: Jerry2665

Jerry2665 — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 22:07:16 +0000

RIP, Roger Doxsey

By: Larian LeQuella

Larian LeQuella — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 21:44:20 +0000

It’s always sad when Science looses an advocate. My thoughts go to the folks who did know him.