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Space
Pioneer
In the
turbulent
era of
1960s Cold
War
confrontations,
Moon race
headlines,
and war in
southeast
Asia,
eight test
pilots
quietly
flew the
radical
X-15
rocket
plane out
of the
atmosphere
and into
the record
books,
earning
astronaut
status.
One of
those
pilots,
NASA
research
pilot Bill
Dana, is
seen here
next to
the X-15
#3
rocket-powered
aircraft
after a
flight.
Formerly
an
aerospace
research
pilot at
Dryden,
Dana flew
the F-15
HiDEC
research
aircraft
and the
Advanced
Fighter
Technology
Integration/F-16
aircraft
and later
became
chief
engineer
at NASA's
Dryden
Flight
Research
Center.
Dana flew
the X-15
research
airplane
16 times,
reaching a
top speed
of 3,897
miles per
hour and a
peak
altitude
of 310,000
feet
(almost 59
miles
high).
Three of
the early
astronaut
test
pilots
never
received
official
recognition
as
astronauts
because
only the
military
had
astronaut
wings to
confer on
their
pilots at
that time.
That was
rectified
on Aug.
23, 2005,
when Dana
and family
members
representing
deceased
pilots
John B.
McKay and
Joseph A.
Walker,
received
civilian
astronaut
wings
acknowledging
their
flights
above 50
miles
high. |
