Lowell Randall, described as one of the "great pioneer rocket scientists" who launched the U.S. space program, died this week in New Mexico.

He was 96.

Randall died at Good Samaritan Las Cruces Village Home Health Center Tuesday, the Silver City (N.M.) Sun-News reported.

Randall was a contemporary of legendary rocketry pioneer Robert Goddard.

Randall's work as a rocket engineer stretched from the 1930s through World War II and into late 20th century space program research.

He served as chief test engineer with the U.S. Naval Research Station at Annapolis, Md., and worked with corporate and governmental programs to develop and test technology for a series of rockets, aircraft and intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Engineer Joe Gold of Las Cruces, who said he first met Randall in 1950, called him "the last surviving member of a team of great pioneer rocket scientists who launched the U.S. space program" in his biography of Randall.

In 1978 Randall retired from the White Sands Missile Range.

Randall, a New Mexico native, was born in Roswell in 1916.