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Notable people · Aviation Space · Science Engineering

Ronald Parise

Warren-born astronomer and ham radio operator who flew as a payload specialist on the Astro-1 (1990) and Astro-2 (1995) ultraviolet telescope missions and put amateur radio on the space shuttle.

Born May 24, 1951, Warren
Died May 9, 2008, Silver Spring, MD

Ronald Parise
Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

Born
May 24, 1951, Warren (Trumbull County) source
Died
May 9, 2008, Silver Spring, MD source
Also known as
Ron Parise, Ronald A. Parise
Known as
Aviation Space, Science Engineering

Life story

Ron Parise was born in Warren, Trumbull County, in 1951, became a licensed radio amateur at 11, ground his own telescope lenses as a boy, and learned to fly before he finished Warren Western Reserve High School in 1969. At Youngstown State University (physics, 1973) he ran planetarium shows and the observatory telescope, then took a master's and doctorate in astronomy at the University of Florida. At Computer Sciences Corporation near NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center he helped build the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope, and NASA chose him in 1984 as a payload specialist for the Astro observatory; its first flight, planned for March 1986 to study Halley's Comet, was cancelled after the Challenger accident. He finally flew on STS-35 (Astro-1, December 1990) and STS-67 (Astro-2, March 1995), logging more than 614 hours in space, and brought amateur radio aboard so crews could talk with schools. He died of a brain tumor in 2008; in 2017 the Warren Heritage Center placed Ohio historical marker 37-78 for him beside the Neil Armstrong First Flight memorial in Warren.

Ohio ties

  • Warren (west side) (1951-1969)
    birthplace and boyhood home; grew up on Warren's west side near the present Armstrong First Flight memorial Trumbull County · source
  • Warren (Warren Western Reserve High School) (to 1969)
    graduated in 1969, the year of the Apollo 11 landing; earned his pilot's license before graduating Trumbull County · source
  • Youngstown (Youngstown State University) (1969-1973)
    B.S. in physics with minors in mathematics, astronomy and geology; planetarium and observatory student worker; Mahoning Valley Astronomical Society; honorary Doctor of Science, 1996 Mahoning County · source
  • Warren (Ohio historical marker 37-78) (2017-)
    state historical marker at the entrance to the Neil Armstrong First Flight Memorial, unveiled on what would have been his 66th birthday Trumbull County · source
  • Warren (Armstrong First Flight lunar module site) (2026-)
    photo and biographical sign added by the Warren Heritage Center in May 2026 Trumbull County · source

Timeline

  1. 1951 Born May 24 in Warren, Ohio, to Henry and Catherine Parise. source
  2. 1962 Became a licensed amateur radio operator at age 11. source
  3. 1969 Graduated from Warren Western Reserve High School, having already earned a pilot's license. source
  4. 1973 Graduated from Youngstown State University in physics, and travelled to Africa with YSU professor Warren Young and Neil Armstrong to view a total solar eclipse. source
  5. 1979 Earned a Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of Florida (M.S. 1977) and joined Operations Research Inc., working on avionics requirements and failure analyses for NASA missions. source
  6. 1980 Joined Computer Sciences Corporation at the International Ultraviolet Explorer operations center; in 1981 began work on the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope for Spacelab. source
  7. 1984 Selected by NASA as a payload specialist for the Astro mission series. source
  8. 1986 His first flight, the Astro mission STS-61-E planned for March 1986 to observe Halley's Comet, was cancelled after the Challenger accident. source
  9. 1990 Flew on STS-35 Columbia (Astro-1, December 2-10), operating three ultraviolet telescopes in the payload bay. source
  10. 1995 Flew on STS-67 Endeavour (Astro-2, March 2-18), a record-setting 16-day flight with round-the-clock observations. source
  11. 1996 Received an honorary Doctor of Science from Youngstown State University. source
  12. 2008 Died May 9 of a brain tumor at 56, after a three-year illness, while working at NASA Goddard on communications planning for human spaceflight. source
  13. 2015 Listed as 'Ronald A. Parise of Warren' among Ohio's 25 astronauts in Ohio House Resolution 28. source
  14. 2017 Ohio historical marker 37-78 was unveiled in Warren on what would have been his 66th birthday, at the Neil Armstrong First Flight memorial off U.S. 422. source
  15. 2026 The Warren Heritage Center added a photo and biographical sign for him at the lunar module site in May. source

Stories

The boy who ground his own lenses

Parise's mother told the Warren Tribune Chronicle that she knew he loved space when he drew the sun and all the planets in first grade. His parents bought him a telescope, but he also built his own and, his father said, ground the lenses himself. He was a licensed radio amateur by 11 and a pilot before he finished Warren Western Reserve High School in 1969. At Youngstown State he presented planetarium shows, ran the telescope on the observatory's public nights and joined the Mahoning Valley Astronomical Society. In 1973 a YSU professor took him and Neil Armstrong to Africa to watch a total solar eclipse.

Source

Halley's Comet, postponed

Parise was picked as a payload specialist in 1984 because he had helped design and build the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope, one of three instruments in NASA's Astro observatory. Astro's first flight was set for March 1986, in time to study Halley's Comet from orbit. The Challenger accident that January grounded the shuttle fleet and his mission with it. Astro-1 finally launched on Columbia early on December 2, 1990, and Parise, Samuel Durrance, Jeffrey Hoffman and Robert Parker became the first astronomers to run telescopes in space, observing 135 objects including Jupiter, Comet Levy and Supernova 1987A. On Astro-2 in 1995 the observatory detected primordial helium in intergalactic space.

Source

A marker by Armstrong's first flight

The Neil Armstrong First Flight memorial on Parkman Road in Warren, with its lunar module replica, stands near the boyhood home of Ron Parise, who played in the area as a child. The Warren Heritage Center raised donations for an Ohio historical marker, and on May 24, 2017, what would have been Parise's 66th birthday, it was unveiled at the memorial with his mother and a childhood friend from Western Reserve High in attendance. Side A notes that he brought amateur radio equipment aboard the shuttle so crews could talk with schools. In May 2026 the Heritage Center added a photo sign; the city's mayor said few towns can say an astronaut grew up there.

Source

Sites to know

Homes, graves, markers, museums and monuments; the numbered ones are on the map.

12
  • 1 Ohio historical marker 37-78, Ronald A. Parise, Ph.D., Astronaut/Scientist (entrance to the Neil Armstrong First Flight Memorial)
    Warren, 2553 Parkman Road NW (U.S. 422) Trumbull County · source
  • Parise photo and biography sign, Armstrong First Flight lunar module site (2026)
    Warren, Parkman Road Trumbull County · source
  • 2 Youngstown State University (B.S. physics 1973; honorary D.Sc. 1996)
    Youngstown Mahoning County · source
  • Warren Western Reserve High School (class of 1969; merged into Warren G. Harding High School in 1990) (unknown)
    Warren Trumbull County · source

Ohio places

Where Ronald Parise was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.

Myths and corrections

Things often said about Ronald Parise, and what the record shows.

Often said Parise graduated from Western Reserve High School in Berlin Center, Mahoning County (the school Wikipedia's article links to).

The record He attended Warren Western Reserve High School in his home city of Warren, one of Warren's public high schools until it merged with Warren G. Harding High School in 1990. The Tribune Chronicle names it as Warren Western Reserve, and NASA's bio says 'Western Reserve High School, Warren, Ohio.' source

Documents

Primary records: patents, letters, court and government files, nominations and old county histories, each at the archive that holds it.

Pictures

Free to use with the credit shown. Select a picture for the original and its license.

  • Ronald Parise
    Ronald Parise
    Public domain
  • STS-35 Columbia, OV-102, crew eats preflight breakfast at the Kennedy Space Center's Operations and Checkout Building.
    STS-35 Columbia, OV-102, crew eats preflight breakfast at the Kennedy Space Center's Operations and Checkout B...
    Public domain
  • In the Operations and Checkout Building, members of the STS-67 flight crew have gathered for a meal prior to suiting up
    In the Operations and Checkout Building, members of the STS-67 flight crew have gathered for a meal prior to s...
    Public domain
  • In the Operations and Checkout Building, STS-67 Payload Specialists Samuel T. Durrance (left) and Ronald A. Parise have
    In the Operations and Checkout Building, STS-67 Payload Specialists Samuel T. Durrance (left) and Ronald A. Pa...
    Public domain
  • The STS-67 flight crew departs the Operations and Checkout Building, headed for Launch Pad 39A. Leading the way are Miss
    The STS-67 flight crew departs the Operations and Checkout Building, headed for Launch Pad 39A. Leading the wa...
    Public domain
  • The crew of space shuttle mission STS-35 poses for the traditional inflight portrait.
    The crew of space shuttle mission STS-35 poses for the traditional inflight portrait.
    Public domain
  • The five astronauts and two payload specialists assigned to NASA's STS-35 mission, scheduled aboard Columbia, Orbiter Ve
    The five astronauts and two payload specialists assigned to NASA's STS-35 mission, scheduled aboard Columbia, ...
    Public domain
  • Ronald Parise
    Public domain
  • The crew for STS-61-E, which was cancelled after the loss of Space Shuttle Challenger. Jon A. McBride (commander), Richa
    The crew for STS-61-E, which was cancelled after the loss of Space Shuttle Challenger. Jon A. McBride (command...
    Public domain
  • STS-67 Crew The crew assigned to the STS-67 mission included (front left to right) Stephen S. Oswald, commander; Tamara
    STS-67 Crew The crew assigned to the STS-67 mission included (front left to right) Stephen S. Oswald, commande...
    Public domain
  • STS035-49-028 (2-10 Dec. 1990) --- This is one of 25 visuals used by the STS-35 crew at its Dec. 20, 1990 post-flight pr
    STS035-49-028 (2-10 Dec. 1990) --- This is one of 25 visuals used by the STS-35 crew at its Dec. 20, 1990 post...
    Public domain
  • The original finding aid described this as: Description: STS-67 Payload Specialist Ronald Parise takes notes on the curr
    The original finding aid described this as: Description: STS-67 Payload Specialist Ronald Parise takes notes o...
    Public domain

Sources

Confidence. High: the main facts were confirmed in sources we opened.

Every link goes to the original source. Profile researched 2026-10-15.

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