Pioneer space journalist dies

updated 6:56 p.m. ET April 26, 2005

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Howard Benedict, who chronicled the triumphs and tragedies of America's journey into space in three decades as the award-winning aerospace writer for The Associated Press, has died. He was 77.

In his 37-year career with the AP, Benedict covered more than 2,000 missile and rocket launches, including 65 human flights from Alan Shepard's historic "Light this candle!" ride in 1961 to the 34th shuttle mission in 1990.

Benedict, who turned 77 on Saturday, died at his home in nearby Cocoa of natural causes. His body was found in bed Monday. Survivors include his wife, Joy, and two sisters. A memorial service was tentatively planned for Friday morning at the Kennedy Space Center.

Benedict had been ill in recent years, but he continued to work for the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, which he headed for more than a decade, and wrote the chapter on aviation and space exploration for an upcoming book on the history of the AP.

"Always fair and objective, his coverage became the standard for America and indeed for the world," John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, said Tuesday.

Gemini and Apollo astronaut Jim Lovell, the foundation's chairman emeritus, said astronauts "have not only lost a friend, but we have lost a true champion."

"Howard's unwavering devotion and support of the foundation is a tribute to a man that will live on for years," Lovell said. "ASF is what it is today in great part to Howard and his steadfast dedication to the astronauts, their legacy and the scientists of the future who benefited from his many years of work."

Benedict, a native of Sioux City, Iowa, joined the AP in 1953 in Salt Lake City and became head of the news cooperative's office in Cape Canaveral in 1959. Two years later, the same year Shepard became the first American in space, Benedict became the first AP reporter to be given the title "aerospace writer."

As the dean of space writing, Benedict developed terminology to explain the complex field of space travel in everyday English. While NASA referred to "revs" or "revolutions" around the Earth, for instance, Benedict wrote "orbits," and he introduced to the general public such early space terms as "retrofire," "multistage rockets" and "rendezvous," which referred to two spacecraft meeting in space.

All the while, colleagues recalled, he maintained a high degree of precision that made his writing accurate and readable.

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