By Michael Perna Jr.
Contributing Writer
SHREWSBURY – As the entire world has been following the Artemis II lunar mission, it was with great surprise that a bit of history recently came to the surface. Did you know that a Shrewsbury resident became an astronaut back in the 1960s?
Robert Allen Ridley Parker, who was born in New York City on December 14, 1936, grew up in Shrewsbury. He attended schools in Shrewsbury, then went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in astronomy and physics from Amherst College in 1958. He later earned his doctorate degree in astronomy from the California Institute of Technology in 1962. His thesis was entitled “The Physical Conditions Pertaining to Some Possible Supernova Remnants.” After his graduation, he became an associate professor of astronomy at the University of Wisconsin – Madison.
In August 1967, Parker was selected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to become a scientist-astronaut. He served as a member of the Astronaut Support Crews on the Apollo 15 and 17 missions. Later, he became the program scientist for the Director’s Office of the Skylab program, serving during three Skylab missions.
From 1988 to 1989, Parker served as the Director of the Space Flight/Space Station Integration Office at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Parker flew as a mission specialist on two different Spacelab missions: STS-9/Spacelab-1, from November 28 to December 8, 1983, and STS-35, from December 2 to 10, 1990. He accrued a total of 19 days, six hours, and 52 minutes of space flight. It should be noted that he was the person to whom the final words spoken by a man standing on the surface of the moon (Gene Cernan) were addressed.
Following his space missions, Parker went on to serve in a variety of different assignments with NASA. In 1991, he was the director of the Division of Policy and Plans for the Office of Space Flight at NASA Headquarters. For the next two years (1992-1993), he was the Director of the Spacelab and Operations Program, followed by an assignment as the manager of the Space Operations Utilization Program. In August 1997, he became the Director of the NASA Management Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. He retired from NASA on August 31, 2005.
During his career, Parker became a member of the American Astronomical Society and the International Astronomical Union. He was awarded the NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal in 1973 and the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal in 1974. During the 1998 HBO twelve-part television miniseries “From the Earth to the Moon,” directed by none other than Ron Howard and Tom Hanks (among others), actor Chris Ellis portrayed Parker.
Robert Allen Ridley Parker – who will be remembered as one of Shrewsbury’s most prominent historical figures – will be 90 years old in December 2026. He currently resides with his wife, Judy, in La Cañada Flintridge, California.
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