Richard Thomas Heckman

Richard Thomas Heckman, son of Ralph and Mary Louise Heckman, was born on January 12, 1934, in Cleveland, Ohio. He spent his early childhood on the shores of Lake Erie, living in Euclid until he was nine years old. His family later moved to Washington DC and then to Brookeville, Maryland, where he graduated from Sherwood High School. He attended Johns Hopkins University, earning a degree in industrial engineering

After college, he served three years in the US Army before resigning his commission to begin a career in aerospace engineering. Dick worked for Thiokol and Hayes before joining NASA.

NASA gained much from Dick's vision, especially in his advocacy for the use of Neutral Buoyancy simulation techniques, and for his part in the establishment of a flightcrew centered Human Factors organization at Marshall Space Flight Center. Dick was among the Aquanaut Crew during the Tektite Mission and served as the crew interface for the Gulfstream Drift Mission. Dick's legacy is baked into the histories of Skylab, the Gulfstream Drift Mission, Project Tektite, Spacelab and Space Station.

Dick and Alethea Kay McDougal married January 25, 1981. They enjoyed a life together of travel and adventure. For 2½ years, they enjoyed living on their sailboat, Wanderlust, and sailing in the Caribbean. They lived in Germany and Holland for almost five years.

Dick's nine lives led to many adventures over the years. Whether skiing, riding motorcycles, racing cars, flying fixed-wing aircraft, gliders, or hang gliders, scuba diving, sailing or windsurfing, he lived on that exciting edge that tests all our skills.

After retiring from NASA, Dick continued his work in the space field with the German Space Agency in Cologne, Germany, and with the European Space Agency in Noordwyck, Holland.

Dick was a certified ski instructor for more than 40 years. He spent many weekends teaching skiing at Cataloochee Ski Area in North Carolina while working at NASA. Upon retirement, he began teaching full time at Beaver Creek in Colorado for two years, and Snowbird Ski Resort in Utah for 11 years.

He was also a certified scuba diver and instructor. He was president of the United States Hang Gliding Association and an official representative of the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI). He served in an official role at Hang Gliding World Championships, including events in Australia, Japan, Austria and Hungary.

Dick is survived by his wife of 45 years, Kay McDougal Heckman; his cousins, Melissa Hanvey (Cecil O Hanvey), David Ellmers (Cindy Sebastian), Charles Ellmers (Ann) and Alexander Hanvey (Jacqueline).

He was one of a kind. His life was a grand adventure he lived to the fullest.

A memorial service will be held at Redstone Village, 12000 Turnmeyer Dr., Huntsville, Al. 35803, on Wednesday April 15 at 10:00 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Habitat for Humanity, Habitat for Humanity of the River Valley, 400 Pratt Av NW, Huntsville, AL. 35801 (https://habitatrivervalley.org/donate/).