Robert W. Austin, 78, of Huntsville passed away Monday afternoon. He was born in Portland, Tennessee. After graduating from Portland High School, he achieved a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville, TN. Upon graduation, Bob became a Civil Servant for NASA in which he embarked on a plethora of extraordinary missions and projects. He played key roles in Saturn V, Space Shuttle, Gamma Ray Observatory, Skylab and numerous other NASA missions where he was involved in generating nuclear instrumentation. Bob also built a Starduster Too, which is an aerobatic biplane that he flew and ranked in many competitions; some on the national level. After retiring from NASA, he continued to enjoy work building automated test equipment, sensors for the cell phone antenna alignment industry, tethered quadrotor UAVs for power generation, instruments to aid the Warfighter, and countless instruments to explore and better understand regions of earth and outer space. Bob wore many hats, including machinist, welder, astronomer, audiophile, trail rider (dirtbikes), dairy farmer, remote control airplane pilot, scientific experimentalist, and photographer. Also, he greatly valued his relationship with others as a mentor and father figure, outside of blood relatives.
Apart from work, Bob particularly enjoyed watching his grandchildren grow up. He also loved observing their interactions with the world.
Bob was predeceased by his parents, Billy and Zenobia Austin, and is survived by his wife, Sandra Austin; sister, Martha Ann Shadowens; son, Colin Austin; and two grandchildren, Emerson and Ella.
Visitation will be from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, November 16, at Laughlin Service Funeral Home, followed by a service at 3 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association at act.alz.org.
