Stewart, Homer Joseph, 1915-2007

Homer Joseph Stewart, also known as Stewie Stewart, (born August 15, 1915, Elba Township, Michigan – died May 26, 2007, Altadena, California), American aeronautical engineer, rocket propulsion expert, and Caltech professor, who pioneered the first American satellites. He was a graduate of the University of Minnesota and CalTech (California Institute of Technology), and later joined the CalTech faculty, where he worked from 1938 until 1980, when he retired as emeritus professor of aeronautics. Stewart and others began testing rockets in a rugged foothill area of the San Gabriel Mountains forming the nucleus of the research group that would evolve into the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

In 1958 NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) was formed as a response to the USSR's 1957 launch of Sputnik 1. From 1958 to 1960, Stewart took a two-year leave of absence from Caltech to serve as NASA's director of planning and evaluation. He was in charge of calculating and analyzing the exhaust velocities required to lift rockets to their planned orbits. Stewart was Director of the Office of Program Planning and Evaluation.