Samuel K. Hoffman; Spacecraft Engineer

Samuel K. Hoffman, 93, an engineer who directed development of liquid fuel rocket engines that launched the nation’s first satellite and moon-bound Apollo spacecraft. Joining North American Aviation in 1949, Hoffman became general manager and later president of a new division, which Hoffman named Rocketdyne, now a division of Rockwell International Corp. Hoffman oversaw development of the Redstone propulsion system used in 1958 to launch Explorer I, the first U.S. satellite, and in the engines used in the Mercury program that put the first American astronauts in space. He also directed development of the F-1 rocket engine, which produced more than 1.5 million pounds of thrust. A cluster of five F-1 engines powered the first stage of the Saturn V rockets used in the Apollo program. Hoffman received the American Rocket Society’s Robert Goddard Memorial Award in 1959. On June 26 in Santa Barbara.