CORRECTING AN OVERSIGHT

On 23 August 2005, 40 years of aerospace controversy ended. For years, many aviation historians and enthusiasts had questioned why the Air Force pilots who flew the X-15 to altitudes above 50 miles received astronaut ratings, while the NASA pilots who accomplished the same feat in the same airplanes did not. The answer came on a small stage at the DFRC when Navy Captain Kent V. Romminger, chief of the NASA Astronaut Office at the Johnson Space Center, presented certificates proclaiming three NASA test pilots as astronauts. NASA administrator Shawn O’Keefe authorized the recognition, and Romminger, associate administrator for the Space Operations Mission Directorate William F. Readdy, and DFRC director Kevin L. Peterson signed the certificates. The purposefully small ceremony was a private moment for a very special group of men and their families.-*402*

In August 2005, NASA finally recognized three NASA pilots who had flown over 50 miles altitude but had not received astronaut wings like their military counterparts. Three former X-15 pilots joined in the ceremony. From left, Robert M White, William H. Dana (proudly wearing the new wings on his flight jacket), Neil A. Armstrong, and Joe H. Engle. The families of Jack McKay and Joe Walker were present to accept their astronaut wings from Kent Romminger, the Chief of the Astronaut Office. (NASA)

In the late 1960s, these three men-William H. Dana, John B. McKay, and Joseph A. Walker-had piloted the X-15 to altitudes in excess of 50 miles. Although five of their colleagues had received Air Force astronaut ratings for similar accomplishments, NASA had never recognized the three civilian pilots. Now, 40 years after the fact, the agency did. Only Bill Dana was still alive to receive his certificate, and to have his wife, Judy, place the blue and gold name tag with the astronaut wings emblem on his flight jacket. However, almost the entire McKay and Walker families were on hand to receive the tribute. Joe Walker, who always had a smile on his face, was the first human being to fly into space twice; now his son has a set of astronaut wings to proudly display. On hand to honor their colleagues were three former X-15 pilots: Joe H. Engle, who after his X-15 flights became the only person to fly the space shuttle back from orbit under manual control; Robert M. White, perhaps the least known of the test pilots (odd considering he was the first person to fly to Mach 4, Mach 5, and Mach 6, as well as the first person to fly to 200,000 feet and then to 300,000 feet; Bob still holds the world absolute-altitude record at 314,750 feet); and Neil A. Armstrong, who needed little introduction. Unfortunately, Scott Crossfield could not attend due to previous commitments. There was not a dry eye in the house.J403