Glenn Albert Robinson Jr., an aerospace engineer whose remarkable 44-year career with NASA stretched from the race to the Moon to the development of the International Space Station, died Friday, August 21, 2026. He was 84.

Glenn was born October 2, 1941, in Gastonia, North Carolina, to Glenn A. Robinson Sr. and Gladys Broome Robinson. His family moved to Charlotte when he was 12, where he attended Myers Park High School.

He graduated from North Carolina State University in 1963 with a degree in Aerospace Engineering and soon joined NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, working among the extraordinary generation of engineers led by Dr. Wernher von Braun.

During the Apollo era, Glenn served as a test engineer on the Saturn V program, participating in the demanding and sometimes dangerous experimental work required to send Americans to the Moon. His work included testing the Saturn V’s massive S-II second stage and its liquid-hydrogen systems, as well as experimental propulsion work associated with the proposed NOVA rocket.

Glenn later described the extraordinary commitment of the engineers and technicians working toward a goal for which there were often no precedents or textbooks. He called it the “Apollo Spirit”—people working together to solve seemingly impossible problems and do whatever was necessary to safely put Americans on the Moon.

His career later took him to NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. with the NASA Space Station Concept Development Group and then to Johnson Space Center in Houston, where he worked in thermal systems, testing and hardware verification on the program that became the International Space Station.

Outside NASA, Glenn possessed boundless curiosity, an adventurous spirit and a seemingly endless collection of talents. He flew airplanes, loved cars and was an excellent marksman and gifted athlete. In high school, he was a single-digit-handicap golfer at Myers Park Country Club; he played basketball into his forties and could still barefoot waterski at 45.

An accomplished competitive sailor, Glenn raced sailboats and loved powerboats. For 38 years, Lakewood Yacht Club in Texas was an important part of his life, and he proudly served as its Commodore in 2000. Of all his many interests, the water—and especially sailing—was his enduring passion.

He loved his NC State Wolfpack, particularly the eras of David Thompson, Jimmy Valvano and Lorenzo Charles. He loved the Houston Astros and, after some tuition paid in Alabama, could even be persuaded to pull for the Crimson Tide on Saturdays.

More important than any of his accomplishments was the way Glenn treated people. His children cannot remember him speaking an unkind word about another person. He met people with grace, patience and respect, and always seemed to see the best in others. He took the high road. Always.

Family was at the center of Glenn’s life. He was married for 23 years to Sara Ann Hill Robinson, with whom he raised their three children. He later shared 23 years of marriage with Judith “Judy” Leibenthal Robinson until her death. In the final chapter of his life, Glenn was fortunate to find companionship and love again with Martha Booke Robinson, his wife of 12 years, who survives him.

Glenn was preceded in death by his parents, Glenn A. Robinson Sr. and Gladys Broome Robinson; his older brother, Johnny Robinson; Sara Ann Hill Robinson, the mother of his children; and Judith “Judy” Leibenthal Robinson.

He is survived by his wife, Martha Booke Robinson; his children, Glenn A. “Robbie” Robinson III (Betsy), Robert Christopher Robinson (Stacy), and Elizabeth “Betsey” Robinson Dyess (Scott); step daughter, Amanda Blodgett; and his sisters, Linda Robinson Correll (Bob) and Deborah Robinson Morse (Drew).

He is also survived by his grandchildren, Robert Hill Robinson (Steph), Caroline Robinson Boswell (Robert), Samuel “Sam” Woods Lanoue, Sara Hill Dyess (Justin), John Albert “Jack” Dyess, James (Jeb) Edward Dyess, Scott Adam Dyess II and Laurel Grace Robinson; and his beloved nephews, Jonathan Morse (Katherine) and Bryan Morse (Laura), whom he loved as his own grandchildren.

His great-grandchildren are Zoey Michal Lanoue, Elizabeth Hill Lovelady, Samuel Hayes Lovelady, Robert Blan Boswell III, Elliott Gilchrist Boswell and Lyric Jasper Dyess; and step grandchildren Marlowe Julienne and Sawyer Elliott.

For all the remarkable things Glenn did in his life, his greatest legacy lives in his family—in the grace they learned from him, the patience they witnessed, the kindness he practiced and the unconditional love he gave them.

A Celebration of Life will be held in Glenn’s honor on October 4, 2026 at 5:00pm at Lakewood Yacht Club, 2322 Lakewood Yacht Club Drive, Seabrook, Texas 77586

In lieu of flowers donations may be made in Glenn’s honor to Judy’s Mission to End Ovarian Cancer Foundation, Judysmission.org, 4801 Woodway Drive, Suite 365-W, Houston, TX 77056 Or League City Animal Care, 755 West Walker Street, League City, Texas, 77573.