Donald Savage/Doug Isbell
Headquarters, Washington, DC                  June 19, 1997
(Phone:  202/358-1547)

RELEASE:  97-137

NASA MOURNS DR. JURGEN H. RAHE, SOLAR SYSTEM
EXPLORATION SCIENCE PROGRAM DIRECTOR

       Dr. Jurgen H. Rahe, 57, Science Program Director for
Exploration of the Solar System at NASA Headquarters,
Washington, DC, died tragically June 18 in the Washington,
DC, area.  Dr. Rahe was killed during a severe storm when a
large tree fell on his car as he was driving near his home in
Potomac, MD.

       Dr. Rahe had a distinguished career in NASA and in the
field of astronomy and space exploration.  In his most recent
position, he was responsible for overall general management,
budget, and strategic planning for NASA's Solar System
Exploration programs, including the Galileo mission to
Jupiter and several upcoming missions to Mars, including the
July 4, 1997, landing of Mars Pathfinder.

       "I am shocked and deeply saddened by the loss of
Jurgen Rahe.  He was a good friend and an extremely dedicated
scientist," said Dr. Wesley T. Huntress, Jr., Associate
Administrator for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington,
DC.  "Under his leadership NASA's planetary exploration
program was experiencing an almost unparalleled period of
major discoveries at the same time that a number of new
missions were being started and launched.  His legacy to the
exploration of space is large, and I like to think that
Jurgen's ideas, hopes, and dreams are aboard many of the
spacecraft now headed to the frontiers of our Solar System."

       As a member of the Office of Space Science Board of
Directors, Rahe also was responsible for the upcoming
Cassini/Huygens mission to Saturn, NASA's low-cost Discovery
missions and several upcoming missions to Mars.  Dr. Rahe
also was the editor of one scientific journal ("Astrophysics
and Space Science") and a member of the editorial board of
two others ("Earth, Moon, and Planets" and "Il Nuovo Cimento").

       Dr. Rahe previously served as a Discipline Scientist,
Chief Scientist for Planetary Astronomy, and Director of the
Solar System Exploration Division at NASA Headquarters.
Before joining Headquarters full-time in 1989, Dr. Rahe was a
Staff Member at the California Institute of Technology/Jet
Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA. He has also served as
the Co-Leader of the International Halley Watch; Co-
Investigator on the European Space Agency's Giotto mission;
Program Scientist for the Clementine, Rosetta, and NEAR (Near
Earth Asteroid Rendezvous) missions; and as the Associate
Program Scientist for the Hubble Space Telescope.

        Previously, he was a Professor of Astronomy and
Director at the Astronomical Institute of the University
Erlangen-Nuremberg (Germany).  During his tenured
professorship, Dr. Rahe worked for extended periods as a
Visiting Professor in several different countries.  He has
published many papers in scientific journals and books,
edited more than a dozen books and conference proceedings,
and served as President and/or member of three International
Astronautical Union committees.  He also served previously as
the Director of the Remeis Observatory in Bamberg, Germany.

       Rahe is survived by his wife and daughter, who live in
Potomac, MD.

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