Michael James Adams (May 5, 1930 – November 15, 1967) ( Maj USAF) was an American

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they a ...

, aeronautical engineer, and USAF

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 spa ...

. He was one of twelve pilots who flew the North American X-15, an experimental

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jointly operated by the Air Force and

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

. On November 15, 1967, Adams flew X-15 Flight 191 (also known as X-15 Flight 3-65-97) aboard the X-15-3, one of three planes in the X-15 fleet. Flying to an altitude above 50 miles, Adams qualified as an astronaut according to the United States definition of the boundary of space. Moments later the craft broke apart, killing Adams and destroying the X-15-3. He was the first American space mission fatality by the American convention.

Background

Early life and military experience

Adams was born May 5, 1930, in

Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...

. He graduated from Sacramento Junior College. He enlisted in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

in 1950, and earned his pilot wings and commission in 1952 at Webb Air Force Base,

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 we ...

. He served as a

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pilot during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, where he flew 49 combat missions. This was followed by 30 months with the 613th Fighter-Bomber Squadron at England Air Force Base,

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, and six months rotational duty at Chaumont Air Base in France.

Education and flight experience

In 1958, Adams received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Oklahoma and, after 18 months of astronautics study at

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

, was selected in 1962 for the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Here, he won the A.B. Honts Trophy as the best scholar and pilot in his class. Adams subsequently attended the Aerospace Research Pilot School (ARPS), graduating with honors in December 1963. He was one of four Edwards aerospace research pilots to participate in a five-month series of

Moon landing practice tests at the Martin Company in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

. In November 1965, he was selected to be an astronaut in the

Manned Orbiting Laboratory program. In July 1966, Major Adams came to the North American X-15 program, a joint USAF/NASA project. He made his first X-15 flight on October 6, 1966.

Death

Adams's seventh X-15 flight, Flight 3-65-97, took place on November 15, 1967. He reached a peak altitude of ; the nose of the aircraft was off heading by 15 degrees to the right. While descending, at the aircraft encountered rapidly increasing aerodynamic pressure which impinged on the airframe, causing the X-15 to enter a violent Mach 5 spin. As the X-15 neared , it was diving at Mach 3.93 and experiencing more than 15 '' g'' vertically (positive and negative), and 8 g laterally, which inevitably exceeded the design limits of the aircraft. The aircraft broke up 10 minutes and 35 seconds after launch, killing Adams. The United States Air Force posthumously awarded him Astronaut Wings for his last flight. An excerpt from NASA's biography page on Mike Adams discusses findings from the crash investigation: :Ground parties scoured the countryside looking for wreckage; critical to the investigation was the film from the cockpit camera. The weekend after the accident, an unofficial FRC (Fleet Readiness Centers) search party found the camera; disappointingly, the film cartridge was nowhere in sight. Engineers theorized that the film cassette, being lighter than the camera, might be further away, blown north by winds at altitude. FRC (Fleet Readiness Centers) engineer Victor Horton organized a search and on 29 November, during the first pass over the area, Willard E. Dives found the cassette. Most puzzling was Adams's complete lack of awareness of major heading deviations in spite of accurately functioning cockpit instrumentation. The accident board concluded that he had allowed the aircraft to deviate as the result of a combination of distraction, misinterpretation of his instrumentation display, and possible vertigo. The electrical disturbance early in the flight degraded the overall effectiveness of the aircraft's control system and further added to pilot workload. The MH-96 adaptive control system then caused the airplane to break up during reentry. His remains were buried at the Mulhearn Memorial Park Cemetery, Monroe, Ouachita Parish, Louisiana.

Awards and honors

During his military career he was awarded: * Astronaut Wings, posthumously * Air Medal * Air Force Commendation Medal * Korean Service Medal * United Nations Service Medal for Korea * National Defense Service Medal with 1 Bronze Service Star * Air Force Longevity Service Award with 4 clusters * Air Force Good Conduct Medal * A.B. Honts Trophy

Memorials

In 1991, Adams's name was added to the Space Mirror Memorial at the

Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten NASA facilities#List of field c ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. On June 8, 2004, a memorial monument to Adams was erected near the crash site, northwest of Randsburg, California.

References

External links

Michael J. Adams
at nasa.gov {{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Michael 1930 births 1967 deaths Accidental deaths in California American aerospace engineers American Korean War pilots American test pilots Aviators from California Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Engineers from California Military personnel from Sacramento, California People who have flown in suborbital spaceflight Recipients of the Air Medal Sacramento City College alumni Space program fatalities 20th-century American engineers United States Air Force astronauts United States Air Force officers University of Oklahoma alumni U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School alumni Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1967 Victims of flight test accidents X-15 program