Richard “Dick” Wallace, a retired mission designer who originated the Jet Propulsion Laboratory peanut tradition for JPL mission personnel, passed away on June 12, 2025 at age 84 in Cloverdale CA. In 1978 to 1982, as a member of the Advanced Projects Group (Any Body, Any Time), he led numerous studies that provided mission options for the NASA planetary program. In 1972 he was a member of the team that developed options for what became the Voyager missions to the four outer planets. Those spacecraft, which launched in 1977, are still returning data from beyond the solar system – part of Dick’s legacy.
Born in NY, Dick earned a bachelor’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering in 1962 from Princeton, and in 1964 a Master’s in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Washington before joining JPL. In 1964 Dick was a member of the Ranger operations team. After six failures to reach and provide close up images of the moon, JPL was under intense national scrutiny for the seventh launch, he brought in peanuts. “I thought they might take some of the edge off the anxiety in the mission
operations room. The rest is history”. Ranger 7 was a resounding success that supported the Apollo Program. The peanuts showed up for each launch, and even showed up on the informal Ranger check lists. A tradition was born and lives on.
Early on, Dick worked on the future of JPL and NASA outer planet missions. In 1977-1978, Dick was a JPL detailee to NASA Headquarters as the NASA Advanced Studies Manager, responsible for planetary exploration future mission studies. In 1978 to 1982, he was the Design Team Leader for future missions: Mariner Mark II, Outer Planet, Shuttle Contingency, Future Mission Models, Plasma Turbulence Explorer, and Close Solar Orbiter Study. In 1985 to 1988, he was Manager for Planetary Observer Studies/Lunar Observer Mission Design. In 1988 he was the Lunar/Mars Unmanned precursor Mission Studies Manager and in 1989 the NASA Headquarters Office of Exploration Science-Engineering Analysis Team Manager.
You could say that Dick Wallace looked to the future, and helped establish a path to get there. Prior to his retirement
to the Sonoma Wine Country, he was developing a mission to Alpha Centauri, a star system in the southern constellation of Centaurus.
Dick is survived by his wife of 40 years, Madeline Wallace, whom he met on the SP-100 Project at JPL, his daughter, Dr. Cary Finale, whom he was so very proud of, and his brother Robert Wallace.
