{{short description|American air and space historian and author}} {{Resume-like|date=August 2022}} {{Infobox person | name = Roger D. Launius | image = Roger_D._Launius_2019.jpg | birth_date = {{birth date and age|mf=yes|1954|05|15}} | birth_place = Galesburg, Illinois, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | occupation = Historian and author | employer = NASA, National Air and Space Museum | alma_mater = Graceland College, Louisiana State University | awards = | website = https://launiusr.wordpress.com/ }} {{Community of Christ sidebar|influential people}} {{external media | width = 180px | float = right | headerimage= 180px | video1 = [http://www.philsoc.org/2011Spring/2285transcript.html Roger D. Launius, “How We Remember Apollo”], Philosophical Society of Washington}}
'''Roger D. Launius''' (born May 15, 1954) is an American historian and author of Lithuanian descent, a former chief historian of NASA. He retired in 2016 as Associate Director for Collections and Curatorial Affairs for the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.<ref>[https://launiusr.wordpress.com/curriculum-vitae/ Curriculum vitae] Retrieved April 7, 2018</ref> Launius is a consulting historian in air and space history. He has written many books on space flight, and also published on the history of the Latter Day Saint movement.<ref name="Smithsonian">{{cite web|title=Dr Roger Launius|url=https://airandspace.si.edu/people/staff/roger-launius|website=Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum|accessdate=31 March 2018|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160705215601/https://airandspace.si.edu/people/staff/roger-launius|archivedate=5 July 2016}}</ref>
==Early life and education== Launius was born in Galesburg, Illinois, and was raised in Greenville, South Carolina.<ref name="NASA">{{cite web|title=Roger Launius|url=https://www.nasa.gov/missions/highlights/webcasts/history/rlaunius-bio.html|website=NASA|date=22 November 2007|access-date=16 January 2023}}</ref> He graduated from Graceland College in 1976 with bachelor of american history and received a master of american history in 1978 and a PhD in history in 1982 both from Louisiana State University.<ref name="Smithsonian"/>
==Career== From 1982 to 1990, Launius held several positions as a civilian historian with the United States Air Force.<ref name="Smithsonian"/> Between 1990 and 2002, he was the chief historian for NASA. In 2001, he held the Charles A. Lindbergh Chair in Aerospace History at the Smithsonian.<ref name="CV">{{cite web|last1=Launius|first1=Roger D.|title=Curriculum Vitae|url=https://airandspace.si.edu/files/pdf/staff/rlaunius_cv.pdf|website=Smithsonian Institution|accessdate=1 June 2016}}</ref> From 2002-2006 he was Chair of the Division of Space History at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. From 2006-2013 he was Senior Curator, and from 2013-2016 Launius was Associate Director for Collections and Curatorial Affairs at the same institution.<ref name="Bainbridge">{{cite book|last1=Bainbridge|first1=William Sims|title=Leadership in science and technology : a reference handbook|date=2012|publisher=Sage|location=Los Angeles|isbn=9781412976886|page=xxxiii|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U_rDhH2gSTAC&pg=PR33|accessdate=1 June 2016}}</ref>
Launius contributed space policy analysis in the wake of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board 2003 report.<ref name="Issues">{{cite book|chapter=Chapter 8: A Failure of National Leadership": Why No Replacement for the Space Shuttle? |author-first= John M.|author-last= Logsdon |publisher=National Aeronautics and Space Administration|title=Critical Issues in the History of Spaceflight|date=2013|isbn=978-1493716630|chapter-url=https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4702.pdf|accessdate=1 June 2016}}</ref><ref name="Leusner">{{cite news|last1=Leusner|first1=Jim|title=Report Names Few But Finds Fault With Top Managers|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2003/08/27/report-names-few-but-finds-fault-with-top-managers/|access-date=1 June 2016|work=Orlando Sentinel|date=August 27, 2003}}</ref> He has been a regular commentator on space-related issues for the news media.<ref name="Schulz">{{cite journal|last1=Schulz|first1=William|title=Columbia Lost: Humans in Space|url=http://pubs.acs.org/cen/topstory/8106/print/8106notw2.html|accessdate=1 June 2016|journal=Chemical & Engineering News|issue=6|volume=81|page=7|date=February 10, 2003|doi=10.1021/cen-v081n006.p007|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name="Roylance">{{cite news|last1=Roylance|first1=Frank D.|title=Space telescope faces setback|url=http://www.southcoasttoday.com/article/20111009/news/110090374|accessdate=1 June 2016|work=South Coast Today|date=October 9, 2011}}</ref><ref name="Campo-Flores">{{cite news|last1=Campo-Flores|first1=Arian|last2=Hotz|first2=Robert Lee|title=One Last Spin Around the Planet|work=Wall Street Journal|date=July 9, 2011|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303544604576433822383063538|accessdate=1 June 2016}}</ref>
<ref name="Launius">{{cite journal|last1=Launius|first1=Roger D.|title=Is Joseph Smith Relevant to the Community of Christ?|journal=Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought|date=2006|volume=39|issue=4|pages=58–67|doi=10.2307/45227214 |jstor=45227214 |s2cid=254402921 |url=https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V39N04_70.pdf|accessdate=1 June 2016}}</ref> He was president of the Mormon History Association in 1993–94<ref name="President">{{cite journal|last1=Launius|first1=Roger D.|title=Presidential Address: Mormon Memory, Mormon Myth, and Mormon History|journal=Journal of Mormon History|date=1995|volume=21|issue=1|url=http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1024&context=mormonhistory|accessdate=1 June 2016}}</ref> and was president of the John Whitmer Historical Association in 1991–92.<ref name="Whitmer">{{cite journal|title=Past Presidents|journal=The John Whitmer Historical Association Journal|date=2014|volume=34|issue=2|page=vii|url=http://www.mormonstudiespodcast.com/podcast/Brent-Lee-Metcalfe_The-Curious-Textual-History-of-Egyptus-the%20Wife%20of%20Ham_article_JWHA-Journal_14-2.pdf|accessdate=1 June 2016}}</ref>
==Publications== {{library resources box|by=yes|onlinebooksby=yes|viaf=34671725}} thumb|right |upright| ''Coming Home'', 2011
Launius has written more than twenty books and 100 articles on the history of aerospace.<ref name="Smithsonian"/> Some titles include ''Historical analogs for the stimulation of space commerce'' (2014), ''Space shuttle legacy : how we did it and what we learned'' (2013), and ''Exploring the Solar System: The History and Science of Planetary Probes'' (2012). He has twice won the AIAA History Manuscript Award, for''Coming Home: Reentry and Recovery from Space'' in 2011,<ref name="Alone">{{cite web|title=Are We Alone in the Universe?|url=https://info.aiaa.org/Regions/NE/Greater_Philadelphia/Lists/Announcements/Attachments/65/AIAA_Distinguished_Lecture_Rev0.pdf|website=American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics|accessdate=1 June 2016}}</ref> and for ''Space Stations: Base Camps to the Stars'' in 2003.<ref name="Pursell">{{cite book|editor-last1=Pursell|editor-first1=Carroll W.|title=A companion to American technology|date=2008|publisher=Blackwell|location=Oxford|isbn=978-1405179942|pages=viii–ix|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=48YOVXgkq8QC&pg=PR8|accessdate=1 June 2016}}</ref><ref name="AIAA">{{cite web|title=History Manuscript Award Recipients|url=https://www.aiaa.org/HonorsAndAwardsRecipientsList.aspx?awardId=e4bf4104-3bb9-4b01-9b88-cb4fd7202f88|website=American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics|accessdate=1 June 2016}}</ref>
Launius has published on the history of the Latter Day Saint movement. He won both the David Woolley Evans and Beatrice Evans Biography Award (1989) and the John Whitmer Historical Association Best Book Award for his work on Mormon history, ''Joseph Smith III: Pragmatic Prophet''.<ref name="Smith">{{cite web|title=Joseph Smith III Pragmatic Prophet|url=http://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/88cft3sr9780252065156.html|website=University of Illinois Press|accessdate=1 June 2016}}</ref>
Launius studies the history of baseball in the United States, and published ''Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman'' with G. Michael Green.<ref name="Smithsonian"/><ref name="Weingarden">{{cite web|last1=Weingarden|first1=Steve|title=Review: Charlie Finley|url=http://sabr.org/research/charlie-finley|website=Baseball Research Journal|date=2010|accessdate=June 1, 2016}}</ref>
==Awards and honors== Launius other awards include:
* John F. Kennedy Astronautics Award, American Astronautical Society, 2009, as an "individual who has made an outstanding contribution to public service through leadership in promoting our space programs for the exploration and utilization of outer space".<ref name="AAS">{{cite journal|title=AAS Annual Awards Recipients|journal=Space Times: The Magazine of the American Astronautical Society|date=2009|volume=48|issue=5|page=20|url=http://dev.astronautical.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/spacetimes_48-5.pdf|accessdate=1 June 2016}}</ref> * Secretary's Research Prize, Smithsonian Institution, 2009.<ref name="Research">{{cite web|title=Smithsonian Congress of Scholars Secretary's Research Awards, 2009|url=https://www.si.edu/scholars/awards2009|website=Smithsonian|accessdate=2 June 2016}}</ref> * Roger R. Trask Award, Society for History in the Federal Government, 2009.<ref name="Trenches">{{cite journal|last1=Launius|first1=Roger D.|title=Federal History and National Identity: Reflections from the Trenches|journal=Federal History|date=2010|issue=2|url=http://shfg.org/shfg/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/6-design6-Launius_Layout-1.pdf|accessdate=2 June 2016}}</ref> * Director's Award, National Air and Space Museum, 2008.<ref name="CV"/> * Harmon Memorial Lecturer in Military History, United States Air Force Academy, 2006.<ref name="Harmon">{{cite web|last1=Launius|first1=Roger D.|title=The Forty-ninth Harmon Memorial Lecture in Military History: National Security: Space and the Course of Recent U.S. History|url=http://www.usafa.edu/df/dfh/docs/Harmon49.pdf|website=United States Air Force Academy|date=2006}}</ref> * NASA Distinguished Service Medal, 2001.<ref name="CV"/> * NASA Exceptional Service Medal, 1999.<ref name="CV"/> * Charles Thomson Prize, 1995, 1998, 2008, 2012<ref name="Thomson">{{cite web|title=Past Award Winners: Charles Thomson Prize|website=Society for History in the Federal Government|url=http://shfg.org/shfg/awards/past-winners/|accessdate=2 June 2016}}</ref>
Launius is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2007), the American Astronomical Society (2001), and the International Academy of Astronautics (2007).<ref name="Bainbridge"/><ref name="CV"/> He is also a Fellow of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics (2021).<ref name="AI">{{cite web |last1=Launius |first1=Roger |title=Fellows List |url=https://www.aiaa.org/docs/default-source/default-document-library/fellow-roster.pdf |website=AIAA Fellows Listing |publisher=AIAA |access-date=22 November 2024}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{C-SPAN|1008675}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Launius, Roger D.}} Category:1954 births Category:Living people Category:Air force historians Category:21st-century American historians Category:21st-century American male writers Category:American members of the Community of Christ Category:Graceland University alumni Category:American aviation historians Category:Historians of the Latter Day Saint movement Category:Louisiana State University alumni Category:NASA people Category:Writers from Greenville, South Carolina Category:Smithsonian Institution people Category:United States Air Force civilians Category:American people of Lithuanian descent Category:American male non-fiction writers