Robert W. Farquhar

Robert (Bob) Willard Farquhar, 83, of Virginia, passed away peacefully Sunday, October 18, 2015; Beloved husband of Irina “Irene” Victoria Farquhar; Loving father of Anna “Anya” Farquhar; Cherished grandfather of Daniel, Bonnie, Joey, and Jackie; Also survived by other family members. He was predeceased by his mother, Ruth C. Boyens, and stepfather, Frank Farquhar; daughter Patricia; step-daughters, Pamela and Robin; and brother, Richard Farquhar.

Dr. Farquhar was born in Chicago, Illinois on September 12, 1932, and raised by his mother, Ruth Boyens, with support from his grandmother Rose Boyens. He spent his youth in Chicago going to school, playing sports, and building model airplanes. Prior to college, he joined the Army and served in Japan and Korea during the Korean War.

The magnitude of Dr. Farquhar’s talent and visionary leadership had no limits. Starting with his Ph.D. from Stanford, Robert was developing new trajectory concepts, i.e., “halo orbits”, double lunar-swingby trajectories, DLS, and Earth-return trajectories, and then applying these concepts to achieve significant space “firsts”. Dr. Bob was like no other in his ability to “DO IT MY WAY” in developing his “FIRSTS”: i.e., unprecedented, almost impossible and, yet, attainable, low-cost, and unique space missions involving both spacecraft that had already completed the primary mission and spacecraft that were still to be designed. He led NEAR Shoemaker mission to the near-Earth asteroid 433 Eros and designs of the Comet Nucleus Tour (CONTOUR) mission; the Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) mission to the planet Mercury; and the New Horizons Mission to the dwarf planet Pluto, and its moon, Charon. Dr. Alan Stern, SWRI, Boulder, CO, extended Bob’s life by a month by requesting Robert to join Dr. Stern as an advisor to the PI of the SWRI’s KBO Extended Mission.

Dr. Farquhar published about 200 scientific papers. His book, Fifty Years on the Space Frontier: Halo Orbits, Comets, Asteroids, and More was published in 2010. It is a colorful compilation of his career, and accurately reflects Bob’s tenacity and audacity in getting things done.

Not mentioning Bob’s main avocation for the last fifty years, collecting and documenting the postal history of Manchuria from 1894 to 1951, Manchuria in Transition: 1925-1934, published in 2006, would be a huge mistake.

In lieu of flowers, please send memorial contributions in Robert’s name to the National Air and Space Museum, Office of Advancement, PO Box 92192, Washington, DC 20090-2102, www.airandspace.si.edu

Relatives and friends are invited to visit at the Witzke Funeral Homes, Inc., 5555 Twin Knolls Rd. Columbia, MD 21045 on Monday, October 26, 2015 from 9:30am to 11:00am, where funeral services will follow at 11:00am. Interment Columbia Memorial Park.

Park.