Rocco A. Petrone who played crucial...

Rocco A. Petrone who played crucial parts at NASA during the Apollo manned space flights to the lunation died Aug. 24 at family circle in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif., the Washington position reported. He was 80.

Mr Petrone was director of Kennedy's launch operations from 1966 to 1969 the station reported. The peak achievement of this period came in July 1969 with the satellite landing of Apollo 11. He also was at hand during the 1967 capsule fire that killed three astronauts.

Mr Petrone was hired in 1981 according to defense contractor Rockwell International to supervise space shuttle design, testing, certification and manufacture, the support said.

The space shuttle had flown dozens of lucky missions, but the morning of Jan. 28 1986 Mr Petrone cautioned against that day's launch of the shuttle Challenger, the seat said. His chief objection, overridden on NASA, was that subfreezing weather the night before could have damaged its thermal protection tiles.

Seven astronauts were killed in the Challenger explosion. The investigation showed that the disaster originateed not from ice but cold-induced failure of the safety seals known as O-rings in the solid rocket boosters

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