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Michael J. Smith (astronaut)
Michael John Smith (April 30, 1945 – January 28, 1986), (Capt USN) was an American engineer and astronaut. He served as the pilot of the Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' when it was destroyed during the STS-51-L mission, breaking up 73 seconds into the flight, and at an altitude of 48,000 feet (14.6 km), killing all seven crew members. Smith's voice was the last one heard on the ''Challenger'' voice recorder. During his Naval career, Smith flew 28 different types of civilian and military aircraft and logged 4,867 hours of flying time. Following the ''Challenger'' disaster, he was promoted posthumously by Congress to the rank of captain, and has had a chair named in his honor at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey, California. Early life and military career Smith was born April 30, 1945, in Beaufort, North Carolina. He graduated from Beaufort High School in 1963 and went on to receive a Bachelor of Science degree in Naval Science from the United States N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beaufort, North Carolina
Beaufort ( , different from that of Beaufort, South Carolina) is a town in Carteret County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. Established in 1713 and incorporated in 1723, Beaufort is the fourth oldest town in North Carolina (after Bath, North Carolina, Bath, New Bern, North Carolina, New Bern and Edenton, North Carolina, Edenton). The population was 4,464 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Beaufort is located in North Carolina's "Inner Banks" region. The town is home to the North Carolina Maritime Museum, the Duke University Marine Laboratory (Nicholas School of the Environment), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research. It is also the location of the Rachel Carson Reserve, part of the N.C. Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve system. It is sometimes confused with Beaufort, South Carolina, a city of the same name in South Carolina; the two are distinguished b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Astronaut
An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spacecraft. Although generally reserved for professional space travelers, the term is sometimes applied to anyone who travels into space, including scientists, politicians, journalists, and space tourists. "Astronaut" technically applies to all human space travelers regardless of nationality. However, astronauts fielded by Russia or the Soviet Union are typically known instead as cosmonauts (from the Russian "kosmos" (космос), meaning "space", also borrowed from Greek ). Comparatively recent developments in crewed spaceflight made by China have led to the rise of the term taikonaut (from the Standard Chinese, Mandarin "tàikōng" (), meaning "space"), although its use is somewhat informal and its origin is unclear. In China, the People' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flight Instructor
A flight instructor is a person who teaches others to operate aircraft. Specific privileges granted to holders of a flight instructor qualification vary from country to country, but very generally, a flight instructor serves to enhance or evaluate the knowledge and skill level of an aviator in pursuit of a higher pilot's license, certificate or rating. United States Privileges A person who holds a flight instructor certificate (called a "certificated flight instructor" (CFI) is authorized to give training and endorsements required for and relating to: *a student, private, commercial or other pilot certificate; *the three hours of training with reference only to instruments in preparation for a private pilot certificate. Note that this does not need to be a CFII. *an instrument rating, only if the CFI has an instrument instructor rating (CFII); This cannot be given by a "safety pilot". A safety pilot can only be used to help maintain instrument proficiency with an instrument-rat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
VT-21
Training Squadron 21 (VT-21), known as the ''Redhawks'', is a U.S. Navy strike jet training squadron stationed aboard Naval Air Station Kingsville, Texas flying the McDonnell Douglas T-45 Goshawk, T-45C Goshawk. The Redhawks are one of four United States Naval Aviator#Strike syllabus, strike jet training squadrons in operation today, and are under the command of Training Air Wing Two. History Training squadron VT-21 was originally established as advanced training unit two-zero-two (ATU-202) in April 1951, the squadron was re-designated as Flight Training Squadron-Two One on 21 May 1960. The first Navy and Marine Corps students were trained in the Grumman F6F Hellcat, F-6F Hellcat. In May 1954, the squadron transitioned to its first jet aircraft, the Grumman F9F Panther, F-9F Panther with the squadron later operating the Grumman F-9 Cougar, F-9F8 Cougar from January 1958. In 1968, the squadron was awarded the Admiral John H. Towers Flight Safety award for superior performance ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Aviator Badge
The United States aviator badges (commonly referred to as "wings") refers to the various Aviator Badge, aviator badges and insignia issued by the uniformed services of the United States; the United States Army Aviation Branch, United States Army, United States Air Force (USAF), United States Navy (USN), United States Marine Corps (USMC), United States Coast Guard (USCG), and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps (NOAA Corps) to qualified aircraft pilots. The United States Space Force (USSF) and the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (USPHSCC) are the only uniformed services which do not issue their own aviator badges; however, USSF and USPHSCC personnel are authorized to wear most badges earned from another uniformed service, to include aviator badges. The NOAA Corps, USN, USMC, and USCG all issue an aviator badge in a single degree, with the latter three branches sharing the same design. The Army and USAF each i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the west, and has Mexico-United States border, an international border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua (state), Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south and southwest. Texas has Texas Gulf Coast, a coastline on the Gulf of Mexico to the southeast. Covering and with over 31 million residents as of 2024, it is the second-largest state List of U.S. states and territories by area, by area and List of U.S. states and territories by population, population. Texas is nicknamed the ''Lone Star State'' for its former status as the independent Republic of Texas. Spain was the first European country to Spanish Texas, claim and control Texas. Following French colonization of Texas, a short-lived colony controlled by France, Mexico ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Naval Air Station Kingsville
Naval Air Station Kingsville or NAS Kingsville (NASK) is a United States Navy Naval Air Station located approximately 3 miles east of Kingsville, Texas in Kleberg County. NAS Kingsville is under the jurisdiction of Navy Region Southeast and is the headquarters of Training Air Wing Two. The station also operates a nearby satellite airfield, NALF Orange Grove. History Commissioned on 4 July 1942 as Naval Auxiliary Air Station (NAAS) Kingsville, it served nearby Naval Air Station Corpus Christi as an auxiliary field, aiding in training many of the U.S Navy's pilots for World War II. At the start of the Korean War in 1951, it was re-commissioned as an auxiliary field for NAS Corpus Christi, and as a permanent component of the Naval Aeronautical shore establishment. In this year, the first jet training class begun on July 15. Some of the Kingsville Naval Auxiliary Fields were assigned to NAAS Kingsville. In 1968, the airfield was redesignated as Naval Air Station Kingsville, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marshall Scholarship
The Marshall Scholarship is a postgraduate scholarship for "intellectually distinguished young Americans ndtheir country's future leaders" to study at any university in the United Kingdom. It is considered among the most prestigious scholarships for U.S. citizens, and along with the Fulbright Scholarship, it is the only broadly available scholarship available to Americans to study at any university in the United Kingdom. Created by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1953 as a living gift to the United States in recognition of the generosity of Secretary of State George C. Marshall and the Marshall Plan in the wake of World War II, the goal of the scholarship was to strengthen the Special Relationship between the two countries for "the good of mankind in this turbulent world." The scholarships are awarded by the Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission and are largely funded by the British government. The program was also the first major co-educational British graduate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aeronautical Engineering
Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is similar, but deals with the electronics side of aerospace engineering. "Aeronautical engineering" was the original term for the field. As flight technology advanced to include vehicles operating in outer space, the broader term "aerospace engineering" has come into use. Aerospace engineering, particularly the astronautics branch, is often colloquially referred to as "rocket science". Overview Flight vehicles are subjected to demanding conditions such as those caused by changes in atmospheric pressure and temperature, with structural loads applied upon vehicle components. Consequently, they are usually the products of various technological and engineering disciplines including aerodynamics, air propulsion, avionics, materials science, st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monterey, California
Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, California, Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a population of 30,218 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city was founded by the Spanish Empire, Spanish in 1770, when Gaspar de Portolá and Junípero Serra established the Presidio of Monterey, California, Presidio of Monterey and the Cathedral of San Carlos Borromeo (Monterey, California), Cathedral of San Carlos Borromeo. Monterey was elevated to capital of the the Californias, Province of the Californias in 1777, servings as the administrative and military headquarters of both Alta California and Baja California, as well as its only official port of entry. Following the Mexican War of Independence, Monterey continued as the capital of the Mexican The_Californias#Department_of_Mexico, Department of the Californias. During t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Captain (U
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, etc. In militaries, the captain is typically at the level of an officer commanding a company or battalion of infantry, a ship, or a battery of artillery, or another distinct unit. It can also be a rank of command in an air force. The term also may be used as an informal or honorary title for persons in similar commanding roles. Etymology The word "captain" derives from the Middle English "capitane", itself coming from the Latin "caput", meaning "head". It is considered cognate with the Greek word (, , or "the topmost"), which was used as title for a senior Byzantine military rank and office. The word was Latinized as . Both ultimately derive from the Proto-Indo-European "*kaput", also meaning head. Occupations ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of the longest-running newspapers in the United States, the ''Times'' serves as one of the country's Newspaper of record, newspapers of record. , ''The New York Times'' had 9.13 million total and 8.83 million online subscribers, both by significant margins the List of newspapers in the United States, highest numbers for any newspaper in the United States; the total also included 296,330 print subscribers, making the ''Times'' the second-largest newspaper by print circulation in the United States, following ''The Wall Street Journal'', also based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' is published by the New York Times Company; since 1896, the company has been chaired by the Ochs-Sulzberger family, whose current chairman and the paper's publ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
