American rocket engineer and long-time advocate of small, low-cost launch
vehicles. Truax began experimenting with rockets as early as 1932, then
became involved with rocket programs as a Naval officer during World War
II. He earned a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the Naval Academy (1939),
and later a B.S. in aeronautical engineering from the Naval Postgraduate
School and an M.S. in nuclear engineering from Iowa State College. After
the war he worked on a number of ballistic missile and space launch vehicle
programs including the Thor, Viking,
and Polaris. In 1959 he retired from the Navy as a Captain, and came to
Aerojet where he headed the
Advanced Development Division until leaving in 1966 to form his own company,
Truax Engineering.
