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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:

Jim Kingsbury began his career in aerospace in 1951 before there was an aerospace industry. He graduated from Penn State with a degree in electrical engineering in January 1951 and was assigned to Redstone Arsenal while serving in the U.S. Army. He joined the team of engineers moving to Redstone from Fort Bliss, Texas, under von Braun and spent over 36 years as a member of that team. He transferred from military to civilian life in 1953 and in 1960 transferred to NASA with the formation of the Marshall Space Flight Center. During his last 12 years at MSFC, he directed the engineering Directorate that was responsible for both program engineering and technology development at MSFC.
Kingsbury was involved in every major program undertaken by the von Braun team, beginning with the Redstone missile and including the Army' Jupiter and Pershing missiles. After transfer to MSFC, he was centrally involved in the development of every major NASA launch vehicle from the Saturn class vehicles through the space shuttle boosters and main engines. Additionally, he and his organization made major contributions to the Skylab program, the High Energy Astrophysics observatories, and the Hubble Space Telescope program..
During his career at NASA, Kingsbury received NASA's highest award for excellence, the Distinguished Medal, on two occasions—in 1969 for his contributions to the Saturn Apollo program, and in 1981 for his central involvement in the development of the Space Shuttle. He was recognized by the President of the United States as a Meritorious Executive in government service in 1981 and as a Distinguished Executive in 1984.
Kingsbury holds the grade of Fellow in both the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the American Astronautical Society. He and his wife now enjoy retirement.