Editing James C. Fletcher (section)

==Biography==
[[File: President Nixon and James Fletcher Discuss the Space Shuttle - GPN-2002-000109.jpg|thumb|left|President Nixon (right) with NASA Administrator James C. Fletcher in January 1972]]
[[File:The Shuttle Enterprise - GPN-2000-001363.jpg|thumb|left|210px|Dr. James Fletcher (left) with the cast of ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'' in front of the [[Space Shuttle Enterprise|Space Shuttle ''Enterprise'']] at the Palmdale manufacturing facility]]
Fletcher was born in [[Millburn, New Jersey]], to [[Harvey Fletcher]] and Lorena Chipman.<ref name="BYU">{{cite web |title=In Memory of Harvey Fletcher |url=http://www.et.byu.edu/~tom/family/Harvey_Fletcher/harvey_fletcher.html |website=www.et.byu.edu |publisher=Brigham Young University |access-date=24 April 2019}}</ref> His father, Harvey, is known as the "Father of Stereophonic sound". Fletcher earned a bachelor's degree in physics from [[Columbia College of Columbia University]] and a PhD in physics (1948) from the [[California Institute of Technology]].<ref name="thesis-fletcher-1948">{{cite thesis |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/301831285/ |title=Cloud chamber studies of cosmic rays |date=1948 |publisher=[[California Institute of Technology]] |type=Ph.D. |last=Fletcher |first=James C. |id={{ProQuest|301831285 }}  |url-access=subscription|oclc=654923475}}</ref><ref name = Fisher>{{ cite news |last=Fisher |first=Ian |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CEFD8123FF937A15751C1A967958260 |title=James Fletcher, 72, NASA Chief Who Urged Shuttle Program, Dies |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=December 24, 1991 |access-date=December 11, 2007}}</ref> After holding research and teaching positions at [[Harvard University|Harvard]] and [[Princeton University|Princeton]] Universities, he joined [[Hughes Aircraft]] in 1948 and later worked at the Guided Missile Division of the Ramo-Wooldridge Corporation. In 1958, Fletcher co-founded the Space Electronics Corporation in [[Glendale, California]], which, after a merger, became the Space General Corporation. He was later named systems vice president of the Aerojet General Corporation in [[Sacramento, California]]. In 1964, he became president of the [[University of Utah]], a position he held until he was named NASA Administrator by President [[Richard M. Nixon]] in 1971.

During his first administration at NASA, Fletcher was responsible for beginning the [[Space Shuttle]] effort, as well as the [[Viking program]] that sent landers to [[Mars]]. He oversaw the [[Skylab]] missions and approved the [[Voyager program|Voyager space probes]] and the [[Apollo–Soyuz]] Test Project.

When he left NASA in 1977, Fletcher became an independent consultant in [[McLean, Virginia]], and served on the faculty of the [[University of Pittsburgh]]. For nine years, he was active as an advisor to key national leaders involved in planning space policy. Among other activities, he served on an advisory board involved in developing the [[Strategic Defense Initiative]].

In 1986, President [[Ronald Reagan]] selected Fletcher to administer NASA for a second time, to help the agency recover from the [[Space Shuttle Challenger disaster|Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' accident]]. Shuttle flights went into a two-year hiatus while Fletcher ensured that NASA reinvested heavily in the program's safety and reliability, made organizational changes to improve efficiency, and restructured its management system. He oversaw a complete reworking of the components of the Shuttle to enhance its safety, including a redesign of the [[Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster|solid rocket booster]]s, and added an egress method for the astronauts. The Space Shuttle returned to flight on September 29, 1988.  Fletcher also approved the [[Hubble Space Telescope]] program. He served as Administrator until April 8, 1989, into the term of Reagan's successor, President [[George H. W. Bush]].

Fletcher lived in [[McLean, Virginia]]. He died from lung cancer on December 22, 1991, at [[Georgetown University Hospital]] in Washington, D.C., aged 72,<ref name = Fisher/> and was buried at [[Salt Lake City Cemetery]]. He was a member of [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]].

In 1974, he received the Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]].<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url= https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#public-service}}</ref> He was posthumously inducted into the [[International Space Hall of Fame]] in 1992.<ref name=ep5>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/29989179/el_paso_times/|title=5 Inducted Into Space Hall of Fame|newspaper=El Paso Times|location=El Paso, Texas|date=October 5, 1992|page=8|agency=Associated Press|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>