U.S. space shuttle worker's death ruled a suicide

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - A NASA worker who fell to his death from the launch pad where the space shuttle Endeavour is being prepared for flight committed suicide, authorities said on Friday.

James Vanover, 53, of Titusville, Florida, an engineer with prime shuttle contractor United Space Alliance, died on March 14 after falling about 130 feet (40 meters) from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A.

The Brevard County Medical Examiner's Office has ruled the death a suicide.

Vanover had worked at the space centre since 1982 and had earned several company honours. He had agreed to a voluntary layoff, but later changed his mind and attempted to rescind his offer, the Medical Examiner's report says.

United Space Alliance is in the processing of halving its workforce as NASA wraps up the 30-year-old shuttle program this summer after two more flights.

Investigators found a note in Vanover's wallet to his wife and children telling them he was going blind from high blood pressure and that he did not want to be a burden to them, the report said.

An autopsy showed no macular degeneration, the report said.

United Space Alliance is a joint venture between the Boeing Co and Lockheed Martin Corp.

(Editing by Jerry Norton)