Milton Orville Thompson

Pioneer Astronaut. He began flying with the US Navy as a pilot trainee at the age of 19, subsequently serving during World War II in China and Japan. He graduated with Science degree in Engineering in 1953, continued flying naval aircraft and was a flight test engineer for the Boeing Aircraft. In 1963, he was one of the first pilots to fly the X-15 rocket for the Air Force's NASA program. He flew the aircraft 14 times during the following two years, reaching a maximum speed of Mach 5.48 and a peak altitude of 214,100 feet on separate flights. He was a member of NASA's Space Transportation System Technology Steering Committee in the 1970s, was appointed Chief Engineer in 1975 and retained the position until his death. (bio by: [fg.cgi?page=mr&MRid=46568383" target="_blank John "J-Cat" Griffith)]

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Jun 11 2018, 11:44:31 UTC