Jesco Hans Heinrich Max Freiherr von Puttkamer (22 September 1933 – 27 December 2012) was a German-American
aerospace engineer, senior manager at
NASA, and a
pulpscience fiction writer.
He was an advocate of
human space exploration, and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (
SETI).[1] While at NASA, he served as the program manager in charge of long-range planning of deep space crewed activities (flights beyond Earth orbit). He was regarded as an expert on the
Russian space program.[2]
Puttkamer assisted with daily on-orbit operations at NASA from 2009 until 2012.
He was given the nickname Jessie by
DeForest Kelley, whom Puttkammer called Dee.[3]: xxiv
He died of a sudden flu-like illness on 27 December 2012.[1]
Early life
He was born, in
Leipzig, to the German noble
Puttkamer family with the titular rank of baron (Freiherr). According to family tradition, each firstborn Puttkamer son is given the forename Jesco.[4]
Puttkamer said that among his most treasured achievements at NASA were: his contributions to the
Apollo program; the
lunar landing in 1969, which fulfilled President
John F. Kennedy's mandate; and recovering America's experimental space station
Skylab after its disastrous launch into orbit on 14 May 1973. He often spoke of "rescuing" the backup
Skylab from being scrapped, so it could be publicly displayed in the
National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.[citation needed]
An interview of Puttkamer by Jörg Weigand was published in Perry Rhodan, Issue 2302.[9] He was a guest on
ZDF's Nachtstudio in 2009. The episode, hosted by Volker Panzer, titled "Moonstruck", was a retrospective on German contributions to space exploration, and focused heavily on the Apollo Moon landing.[10]
Writing
Puttkamer was the author of more than a dozen books on space flight. He also wrote many
science fictionshort stories which were published by German
pulp magazines, notably Pabel's Utopia Sonderband (with volume #3 renamed to Utopia SF Magazin) (1956–57) and Moewig's Terra and Terra Astra (1960–61). His stories have been reprinted frequently since. He also published several serialized essays from 1964 to 1969 for a number of German magazines.[11]
His stories, originally published in Utopia SF Magazin, were collected in Elektronengehirne, Wurmlöcher und Weltmodelle (December 1985) along with six new stories. The collection was released as part of the Utopia Classics series. The story "The Sleeping God" was collected in the
anthologyStar Trek: The New Voyages 2, along with an introduction by Puttkamer where he explains science fiction, like Star Trek, humanizes space, making it "more understandable for the young in mind."[3]: xxvi
His German-language memoir and essay of the
Apollo 11 lunar landing, "Apollo 11: Ausflug in die Mondwelt," was reissued in a Chinese translation in 1982, in Beijing. A revised edition of the essay was included in his book, Abenteuer Apollo 11, released on the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission.[2]
Awards and honors
Puttkamer was awarded with numerous accolades while at NASA, among them the
Exceptional Service Medal (2004), for outstanding services by a civilian, followed by the NASA Honor Award, for advancing American-Russian cooperation in space flight, in 2007.[2]
"Danke für den Tip!," Science Fiction Almanach 1983 (December 1982),
H. J. Alpers, ed., Moewig SF #3603 (Moewig)
ISBN3-8118-3603-X.
"Bestimmung," Elektronengehirne, Wurmlöcher und Weltmodelle (December 1985), Jesco von Puttkamer, ed., Utopia Classics #84 [Moewig)
ISBN3-8118-5030-X.
"Danke für den Tip," Elektronengehirne, Wurmlöcher und Weltmodelle (December 1985), Jesco von Puttkamer, ed., Utopia Classics #84 (Moewig)
ISBN3-8118-5030-X.
"Der Super-Zweikampf," Elektronengehirne, Wurmlöcher und Weltmodelle (December 1985), Jesco von Puttkamer, ed., Utopia Classics #84 (Moewig)
ISBN3-8118-5030-X.
"Hausieren verboten," Elektronengehirne, Wurmlöcher und Weltmodelle (December 1985), Jesco von Puttkamer, ed., Utopia Classics #84 (Moewig)
ISBN3-8118-5030-X.
"Selbst ist der Mann," Elektronengehirne, Wurmlöcher und Weltmodelle (December 1985), Jesco von Puttkamer, ed., Utopia Classics #84 (Moewig)
ISBN3-8118-5030-X.
"Simultanzeit," Elektronengehirne, Wurmlöcher und Weltmodelle (December 1985), Jesco von Puttkamer, ed., Utopia Classics #84 (Moewig)
ISBN3-8118-5030-X.
Nonfiction
Apollo 8, Aufbruch ins All (1969), Heyne (Heyne Sachbuch #130).
Jahrtausendprojekt Mars: Chance und Schicksal der Menschheit (1996), Langen-Müller
ISBN3-7844-2571-2.
Abenteuer Apollo 11: von der Mondlandung zur Erkundung des Mars (22 June 2009), Herbig
ISBN978-3-7766-2616-2.
^von Puttkamer, Jesco (1985). Der zweite Tag der neuen Welt: d. Raumfahrt auf d. Weg ins 3. Jahrtsd. Frankfurt am Main: Umschau-Verlag. p. 13.
ISBN3-524-69054-8.
^von Puttkamer, Jesco (Apr 1980). Zimmerman, Howard (ed.). "The Origin of Star Trek's Wormhole". Starlog. No. 33. Reproduction of original memo by Jesco von Puttkamer. O'Quinn Studios, Inc.
ISSN0191-4626.
^Weigand, Jörg (30 Sep 2005). Frick, Klaus N.; Kasper, Hartmut (eds.). "Teuer wird der bemannte Flug immer sein". Perry Rhodan (in German). No. 2302. Perry Rhodan Journal #90, p. 3. Pabel-Moewig.
^Panzer, Volker (5 Jul 2009). "Mondsüchtig - Warum wir nach 40 Jahren wieder hin wollen". Nachstudio (in German). ZDF.