Peter S. Thorn became involved in the US space program in the early 1950s after moving to the United States from his native England. He was a part of Pan American World Airways’ established Guided Missiles Range Division from 1953 to 1956, working as Superintendent of Personnel Administration and then as Wage and Salary Superintendent for the division.

Peter began working at Cape Canaveral in 1958 as Head of Operations Support for American Bosch Arma Corporation, which included quality control of the ARMA Division prime contract for the R&D testing of a long-range inertial guidance system (Atlas). In 1964, he began working as the Manager of Administrative Support for United Technology Center at Cape Kennedy, responsible for managing the prime contract for the R&D testing of solid rocket motors on the Titan IIIC program. After that, he worked for Boeing in Public Affairs with responsibilities throughout the next 10 years that included editing the Kennedy Space Center newsletter (Spaceport News) and providing public relations services to visiting dignitaries during launches.

Peter worked at Kennedy Space Center until 1984, having given almost 30 years of service to the US space program.