This Day in Aviation History
May 5th, 1930
Birth of Michael J. Adams, test pilot of the X-15.
 
Michael James Adams (May 5, 1930 – November 15, 1967) was an American aviator and USAF astronaut. He was the first American space mission fatality, according to the United States definition.
 
Adams was born May 5, 1930, in Sacramento, California. He graduated from Sacramento Junior College. He enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1950, and earned his pilot wings and commission in 1952 at Webb Air Force Base, Texas. He served as a fighter-bomber pilot during the Korean War, where he flew 49 combat missions. This was followed by 30 months with the 613th Fighter-Bomber Squadron at England Air Force Base, Louisiana, and six months rotational duty at Chaumont Air Base in France….
 
Source:
Wikipedia, Michael J. Adams: http://gstv.us/1IcoiPk
 
YouTube, When Rocket Planes Turn Fatal: http://gstv.us/1W9jUYu
By Vintage Space
 
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Photo from: http://gstv.us/1W9kjue
 
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