William Pickering, Key U.S. Figure in Space Race, Dead at 93 Mar 16, 2004 By Andrew Bridges/ The Associated Press PASADENA, Calif. (AP) - William H. Pickering, who as director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the dawn of the space age oversaw the launch of the first U.S. satellite, has died, lab officials said Tuesday. He was 93. Pickering, who twice appeared on the cover of Time magazine, died of pneumonia Monday at his home in suburban La Canada Flintridge, JPL said. "Dr. Pickering was one of the titans of our nation's space program," JPL director Charles Elachi said....