NASA plants tree in Michel’s memory

F. Curtis Michel

NASA’s Johnson Space Center held a memorial tree planting ceremony in honor of former astronaut and Rice emeritus professor F. Curtis (Curt) Michel on May 4. The ceremony and tree planting are longstanding traditions at the center, a living memory of astronauts who have passed away. Michel, the Andrew Hays Buchanan Professor Emeritus of Space Physics and Astronomy, died Feb. 23 at the age of 80. He was part of the fourth class of astronauts chosen by NASA in 1965. He never flew to space, and he retired from the agency to return to his research at Rice. According to NASA, the idea for the Astronaut Memorial Grove was spearheaded by former Johnson Space Center director George Abbey, now the senior fellow in space policy at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. (Photo by Greg Marshall)