Paul C. Donnelly
| Paul C. Donnelly | |
|---|---|
Official NASA portrait, 1969
|
|
| Born |
March 28, 1923 Altoona, Pennsylvania |
| Died | March 12, 2014 (aged 90) Indian Harbour Beach, Florida |
| Residence | United States |
| Fields | Guided missiles, electrical engineering |
| Institutions |
1942–45: National Hydraulic Lab |
| Known for | Apollo launch operations management |
| Influences | Hugh L. Dryden |
| Influenced | George Page, Robert Sieck |
| Notable awards |
NASA Distinguished Service Medal (2) NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal (3) NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal |
1942–45: National Hydraulic Lab
1946–58: Navy Bur. of Ordnance
1958–64: LOD-Cape Canaveral
1964–78: Kennedy Space Center
Paul Charles Donnelly (March 28, 1923 – March 12, 2014) was an American guided missile pioneer and a senior NASA manager during the Apollo moon landing program at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Responsible for the checkout of all Apollo launch vehicles and spacecraft, he was also involved in every U.S. manned launch from Alan Shepard's Mercury suborbital flight in 1961 through the tenth space shuttle mission (STS-41B) in 1984.
During World War II, Donnelly helped develop the U.S. Navy's Bat, the first "smart bomb" in the history of warfare, which his Navy squadron dropped on Japanese ships in Borneo's Balikpapan Harbor in 1945.
Donnelly was born March 28, 1923 in Altoona, Pennsylvania, the son of Irish immigrant David Roy Donnelly and Magdalena (née Schreiber) Donnelly, born in Germany. He graduated from Altoona High School in 1940 (and received its Distinguished Alumni Award in 2000). He left to join the Navy in 1942, and completed courses in electronics at Grove City College. He also attended the Navy's electronics and guided missile technical schools.
Nicknamed "Red" for his hair, Donnelly was stationed at the National Bureau of Standards in Washington, D.C., working in electronics for classified guided ordnance development, including the Bat, at the Navy's National Hydraulic Laboratory. On April 28, 1945, his VPB-109 Squadron of PB4Y-2 Privateer bombers, known as the Bat Squadron, dropped several SWOD-9 Bats, the first fully automatic (radar) guided bombs used in warfare, on Japanese shipping in Borneo's Balikpapan Harbor. The attack sank three ships and destroyed a large oil tank. Donnelly advanced to the rate of chief petty officer and was awarded nine Navy medals.
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