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Family pays tribute to scientist who covered the Apollo moon landings




Family and friends have paid tribute following the death of scientist John Orion Thomas, who worked at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge in the 1950s and 1960s and later went on to be the BBC Wales live reporter of the Apollo moon landings.

Dr Thomas, who was the former assistant chief in space sciences at NASA Ames Research Centre, and had a PhD in physics, passed away on February 19 at the age of 96.

Scientist John Orion Thomas who worked in the 1950s and 1960s at the Cavendish laboratory in Cambridge (63243385)
Scientist John Orion Thomas who worked in the 1950s and 1960s at the Cavendish laboratory in Cambridge (63243385)

His daughter, Julia Thomas, said: “My dad was very proud to have covered the Apollo Moon Landings for BBC Wales. My cousin told me they had all huddled around the radio listening to him. I remember him saying how nervous he had been on the night and that he’d had a shot of whiskey before going on air.”

Dr Thomas was born in 1926 in Sunny Bank, Grovesend, Wales. He went to Gowerton School and then onto the universities of Swansea, Cambridge and Imperial College London and set up the company Oxford Computer Services.

His completed his national service in London, where he assisted in the development of radar for the detection of military planes. He returned to Swansea to finish his PhD in 1953, before moving to the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, where he met his wife of 69 years, Denise, who came to work as his secretary.

Scientist John Orion Thomas who worked in the 1950s and 1960s at the Cavendish laboratory in Cambridge (63243380)
Scientist John Orion Thomas who worked in the 1950s and 1960s at the Cavendish laboratory in Cambridge (63243380)

In 1959, he was appointed to the role of assistant tutor in physics at Fitzwilliam House, which would become Fitzwilliam College in 1966.

In 1963, he and Denise moved to Stanford University, California, as a visiting lecturer, before joining NASA Ames as assistant to the chief of space sciences. He returned to the UK to lecture at Imperial College from 1965 to 1986, and became editor of the Journal of Remote Sensing, chairman, and later president of the Remote Sensing Society.

Scientist John Orion Thomas, who worked in the 1950s and 1960s at the Cavendish laboratory in Cambridge, with his wife Denise.
Scientist John Orion Thomas, who worked in the 1950s and 1960s at the Cavendish laboratory in Cambridge, with his wife Denise.

In 1969, due to his Welsh background and experience at NASA, he provided live television coverage of the moon landings to a Welsh speaking audience for BBC Wales.

Annabel Walker, John’s daughter-in law, told mourners at his funeral on Monday (March 28): “It is really not everyone who can lay claim to contributing to probably the most momentous event in the history of mankind - the moon landings, the discovery of radar and how our atmosphere works...

“But aside from all his achievements, John was foremost a family man who delighted in his children and grandchildren.”

Scientist John Orion Thomas who worked in the 1950s and 1960s at the Cavendish laboratory in Cambridge (63243382)
Scientist John Orion Thomas who worked in the 1950s and 1960s at the Cavendish laboratory in Cambridge (63243382)

His daughter Julia remembered his fondness for travel and insistence that it was an essential part of education.

She said: “He used to drive the whole family to Greece every year in a campervan because he thought it was so important for us to travel. There were five children - two slept in hammocks across the dashboard and three were in a pop-up tent in the roof.

“He was a wonderful storyteller and musician and loved singing. His favourite saying was ‘chip away at the slate’, which meant never give up because for him procrastination was a real no no.”

He talked often of his time in Cambridge and had happy memories of living there and of meeting his wife. They started their married life in Cherry Hinton.

John went on to launch his own software company and, building on his expertise in atmospheric science and remote sensing, helped the Ministry of Defence devise techniques to track the movements of submarines from space.

John died following a short illness in a nursing home in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, where he had spent his last three years with his wife Denise. He is survived by his sister, Margaret Evans, wife Denise Thomas, children Adrian, Martin, Allison, Julian and Julia and his six grandchildren.



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