Wesley Huntress

Wesley Huntress
Huntress, Jr., Wesley T.
Born	April 11, 1942 Washington DC

Career

Early Career in Game Programming

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, while working as an astrochemist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Huntress also engaged in the burgeoning world of home computer game development. Fascinated by the Apple II, he authored several space-flight simulators:

Saturn Navigator (published by subLogic): guided players from Earth to Saturn, mastering orbital mechanics
Rendezvous: A Space Shuttle Flight Simulation (Edu‑Ware, 1982): a detailed simulator featuring shuttle launch, orbital rendezvous, and docking—credited with educational value alongside entertainment
Wilderness: A Survival Adventure (co‑directed with Charles Kohlhase; Electric Transit, 1984–85): an immersive, first-person survival simulation of hiking out from a Sierra Nevada plane crash, which won Adventure Game of the Year in 1983

Across these titles, Huntress handled design and low-level programming—e.g., using 6502 assembly and C, and even creating a custom disk operating system for the Apple II.

Transition to Space Science Leadership

Following his game-development stint, Huntress’s primary focus continued at NASA JPL through the 1970s and 1980s. A respected astrochemist, he contributed to understanding ion-molecule reactions, cometary atmospheres (notably Halley’s Comet via Giotto), and Titan’s atmospheric chemistry.

In the late 1980s, he moved to NASA Headquarters, holding key administrative roles:

Director, Solar System Exploration Division: oversaw missions to Mars, Venus (Magellan), Jupiter (Galileo), and Saturn (Cassini).
Associate Administrator for Space Science: guided all NASA space science programs, and founded the agency’s Astrobiology Program.

Senior Science Administrator and Advocate

In 1998, Huntress was appointed Director of the Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution, where he served until his 2008 retirement. He concurrently held positions such as:

President of the Planetary Society (2001–2006), advocating for public and private funding of robotic exploration.
Member and chair of NASA Advisory Council committees, providing insights into budget and science priorities.

During this time, he championed the “stepping stones to Mars” human exploration strategy, detailed in 2004’s The Next Steps in Exploring Deep Space, and testified before Congress on major space policy initiatives.

Recognition and Publications

Awarded the 1998 Carl Sagan Memorial Award, along with multiple NASA honors: Distinguished Service Medal, Goddard and Presidential Distinguished Executive Awards.
Co-authored Soviet Robots in the Solar System (2011), documenting robotic exploration in the Cold War era.

Education and Personal Interests

BA in Chemistry (Brown, 1964); PhD in Chemical Physics (Stanford, 1968); Honorary DSc (Brown, 2005).
Within his “Passions,” Huntress highlights his love for family, summers at his Maine lake camp, classical and blues music (especially Mozart), classic sci‑fi films of the 1950s, and interactive simulations.

Summary

Wesley Huntress uniquely blends deep scientific expertise with hands-on programming creativity. His early work on Apple II simulators showcased his technical versatility and simulation design skills. These pursuits dovetailed with his extensive contributions to space science— from atmospheric research and planetary missions to high-level administration and visionary advocacy.

List of major works

External links

Wikipedia