William Ray Lucas, who led the NASA facility that shouldered much of the blame for the 1986 explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, has died. Lucas was 102. Lucas died Monday at his home in ...

The man who led a NASA facility that shouldered much of the blame for the 1986 space shuttle Challenger explosion has died

William R. Lucas, who directed the Marshall Space Flight Center from a crucial time of expansion into one of its darkest hours, died Feb. 10, 2025, at his home in Huntsville. He was 102. Lucas served as the fourth director of the Huntsville-based space flight center,