Milton Antone Silveira (May 4, 1929 – July 11, 2013) was an American

aerospace engineer 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 s ...

, pilot and academic of

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

descent, serving as

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 ...

's Chief Engineer between 1983 and 1986. He was involved in numerous

crewed spaceflight Human spaceflight (also referred to as manned spaceflight or crewed spaceflight) is spaceflight with a crew or passengers aboard a spacecraft, often with the spacecraft being operated directly by the onboard human crew. Spacecraft can also be ...

programs, including Mercury,

Gemini Gemini most often refers to: * Gemini (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac * Gemini (astrology), an astrological sign Gemini may also refer to: Science and technology Space * Gemini in Chinese astronomy, the Gemini constellat ...

and

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

, and also contributed to the investigation into the 1986

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. ...

''Challenger'' disaster.

Early life, education and military career

Milton Silveira was born in

Mattapoisett, Massachusetts Mattapoisett is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,508 at the 2020 census. Mattapoisett Center is located in the town. Mattapoisett is a part of the South Coast region of Massachusetts which encompass ...

, in 1929. His parents, Antonne and Carolinda Silveira, were immigrants from the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

. His love of aeronautics began at age 16, when he acquired his pilot's license. Silveira attended Fairhaven High School, and gained a BSc in mechanical engineering from the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, commonly referred to as the University of Vermont (UVM), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont, United States. Foun ...

, where he was president of the flying club. In June 1951, Silveira joined NASA's predecessor, the

National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was a United States federal agency that was founded on March 3, 1915, to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. On October 1, 1958, the agency was dissolved and its ...

(NACA), in

Langley, Virginia Langley is an unincorporated community in the census-designated place of McLean in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The name "Langley" often occurs as a metonym for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), whose headquarters, the George ...

. In September 1951, he was called to duty as an army aviator by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

and later served as the Chief Engineering and Maintenance Officer of the U.S. 8th Army in

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

. In 1955, he returned to NACA. He continued his education simultaneously – in 1960, he received an MSc in

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 s ...

from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

, and he conducted post-graduate work at

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

and the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

between 1960 and 1968.

NASA career

When NACA was replaced by NASA in 1958, Silveira continued working for it as an aerospace technologist. In 1964, he became the deputy chief of the Aerodynamics Branch of NASA's Advanced Spaceflight Technology Division. He oversaw the development of the

Little Joe II Little Joe II was an American rocket used from 1963 to 1966 for five uncrewed tests of the Apollo spacecraft launch escape system (LES), and to verify the performance of the command module parachute recovery system in abort mode. It was name ...

launch vehicle, and also worked on the Mercury,

and

Skylab Skylab was the United States' first space station, launched by NASA, occupied for about 24 weeks between May 1973 and February 1974. It was operated by three trios of astronaut crews: Skylab 2, Skylab 3, and Skylab 4. Skylab was constructe ...

programs. He served as the engineering manager of the

Space Shuttle program The Space Shuttle program was the fourth human spaceflight program carried out by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which accomplished routine transportation for Earth-to-orbit crew and cargo from 1981 to 2011. Its ...

between 1969 and 1973. In 1983, after nearly a decade of mid-level involvement with the Space Shuttle program, Silveira became NASA's Chief Engineer. In the aftermath of the Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' disaster in January 1986, he collaborated with an independent review board to investigate the causes of the disaster. Silveira retired from NASA in 1987, though he retained many links to the organization. He briefly worked for the

Ford Aerospace Corporation Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

, before becoming a consultant with the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and superv ...

Personal life

Silveira was survived by his four children – Leeland Silveira, Douglas Silveira, Carolyn Silveira-Krumrey and Scott Silveira. He maintained a long-term association with the University of Vermont by conducting a regular teleconference class for its engineering school and serving on the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Board, culminating in his establishing the Milton Silveira annual award for junior faculty members of the College. He was also a

docent The term "docent" is derived from the Latin word , which is the third-person plural present active indicative of ('to teach, to lecture'). Becoming a docent is often referred to as habilitation or doctor of science and is an academic qualifi ...

of the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...

, and was an accomplished amateur

gourmet Gourmet (, ) is a cultural idea associated with the culinary arts of fine food and drink, or haute cuisine, which is characterized by their high level of refined and elaborate food preparation techniques and displays of balanced meals that have ...

chef.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Silveira, Milton 1929 births 2013 deaths American aerospace engineers American people of Azorean descent NASA people United States Army officers United States Army personnel of the Korean War Project Mercury Project Gemini Apollo program Space Shuttle program Space Shuttle Challenger disaster People from Mattapoisett, Massachusetts University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni American people of Portuguese descent