Charles Knowles Alford Jr, 83, passed away peacefully at home surrounded by family and was welcomed into the Lord's arms on Sunday, October 6th, 2024.

Charles was born at home in Wichita County on September 11, 1941 to Charles Knowles Alford, Sr. and Maxine Harris Alford. He grew up in the Fort Worth area, attended Texas Tech University and graduated from Arlington State College in 1961. He married Carolyn Louise Eaton and they had six children: Kathy, Karen, Kristin, Scott, Craig and Mark. Then they bought a television.

He was a member of the ROTC program and after college graduation, Charles served two years in the US Army and was then employed at NASA in 1966 and had a 40-year career at Mission Control Center in Houston, TX as an engineer in Guidance, Navigation and Control (GNC). All the children can remember when there was a flight simulation or real world operation happening because they had to find their own dinner on those nights. He was very proud of his contributions to the Space Shuttle program. He was responsible for inertial navigation systems hardware such as star trackers, radar altimeters and Inertial Measurement Units; monitoring radio navigation and digital autopilot hardware systems. In 2003 collaborating with his coworker Eddie Trilca he developed a method utilizing the Orbiter Docking System offset information to facilitate efficient docking of the Space Shuttle to the International Space Station (ISS). This method was used in scenarios such as the one that occurred during STS-117 (2007) when multiple ISS on-board GNC computers along with Russian TVM computers failed. Charles' method showed that when primary systems failed, his alternate calculation could still allow the Shuttle to be commanded to hold a more precise attitude in relation to the space station, providing valuable savings of on-board propellant while minimizing loads between the spacecraft. In 2006 while Space Shuttle Atlantis was orbiting the Earth, pilot Chris Ferguson recognized Charles' 40 years of service as lead GNC flight controller.

Charles was a licensed private pilot. He had a passion for gardening and was a fabulous cook for his family. His holiday baking frenzy of cakes, pies, fudges, and more was a sight to behold and a delight to eat. He also enjoyed tinkering in his garage and was quite a Mr. Fix-it around the house.

Mr. Alford was preceded in death by his parents, son Mark and brother Wayne Alford. He is survived by children: Kathy, Karen, Kristin Barto (John), Scott and Craig (Liz); sister Jasmine Walston (nee Cymbe Alford); grandchildren: Camden, Preston, Riley, Cade, Reese, Maxine, Eva, and Conner Alford, Michael and Kaitlyn Barto; and great-granddaughter Brooklyn Alford.

A Memorial Service will be held at Darst Funeral Home 796 Russell Palmer Rd, Kingwood, TX 77339 on October 26, 2024 at 1 PM. Visitation/viewing will be at 11 AM.

The family would like to express special thanks to his son Scott who opened his home and was the caregiver for the previous year which allowed Charles to avoid going to a nursing home as it was his wish to be in a home environment. In addition the family thanks the staff at Ascend Hospice and all of the Visiting Angels for their great care and kindness.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by The Bay Area Citizen from Oct. 23 to Oct. 24, 2024.

Memories and Condolences
for Charles Alford

1 Entry

Leo Waltz

October 25, 2024

Charles and I have a lot of history in common. We both were born on the same day, we both attended Texas Tech and were in the Army ROTC. We were commissioned the same day in the same branch of the Army. Most of my duty was at Red River Army Depot near Texarkana. We both were promoted to 1st Lt. on the same day. I also went to work at NASA's then Manned Spacecraft Center, now called Johnson Space Center and we were both involved in the Mission Control Center, but were not in the same Divisions there, so contact was seldom.
I am sorry to hear of his passing.

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