Robert Franklyn "Bob" Overmyer (July 14, 1936 – March 22, 1996) was an American

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testin ...

naval aviator Naval aviation / Aeronaval is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases. It often involves '' navalised aircraft'', specifically designed for naval use. Seaborne aviation encompas ...

aeronautical 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 ...

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

, United States Marine Corps officer, and

USAF 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

. Overmyer was selected by the Air Force as an astronaut for its

Manned Orbiting Laboratory The Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) was part of the United States Air Force (USAF) human spaceflight program in the 1960s. The project was developed from early USAF concepts of crewed space stations as reconnaissance satellites, and was a succ ...

in 1966. Upon cancellation of the program in 1969, he became a NASA astronaut and served support crew duties for the

Apollo program The Apollo program, also known as Project Apollo, was the United States human spaceflight program led by NASA, which Moon landing, landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969. Apollo followed Project Mercury that put the first Americans in sp ...

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 ...

program, and Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. In 1976, he was assigned to 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 ...

and flew as pilot on

STS-5 STS-5 was the fifth NASA Space Shuttle mission and the fifth flight of the Space Shuttle ''Columbia''. It launched on November 11, 1982, and landed five days later on November 16, 1982. STS-5 was the first Space Shuttle mission to deploy comm ...

in 1982 and as commander on

STS-51-B STS-51-B was the 17th flight of the NASA Space Shuttle program and the seventh flight of Space Shuttle ''Challenger''. The launch of ''Challenger'' on April 29, 1985, was delayed by 2 minutes and 18 seconds, due to a launch processing failur ...

in 1985. He was selected as a lead investigator into the Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' disaster in 1986, retiring from NASA that same year. A decade later, Overmyer died while testing the

Cirrus VK-30 The Cirrus VK-30 is a single-engine pusher-propeller homebuilt aircraft originally sold as a kit by Cirrus Design (now Cirrus Aircraft), and was the company's first model, introduced in 1987. As a kit aircraft, the VK-30 is a relatively obsc ...

homebuilt aircraft Homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch", from plans, or from assembly kits.Armstrong, Kenn ...

Early life and education

Overmyer was born on July 14, 1936, to Rolandus Overmyer (1906–1968) and Margaret June Overmyer ( Fabian; 1908–1979) in

Lorain, Ohio Lorain () is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. It is located in Northeast Ohio on Lake Erie, at the mouth of the Black River (Ohio), Black River about west of Cleveland. It is the List of cities in Ohio, ninth-most populous city in O ...

, but considered

Westlake, Ohio Westlake is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. It is a suburb located west of downtown Cleveland. The population was 34,228 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History The area now known as the city of Westlake was first ...

, his hometown. Overmyer was active in the

Boy Scouts of America Scouting America is the largest scouting organization and one of the largest List of youth organizations, youth organizations in the United States, with over 1 million youth, including nearly 200,000 female participants. Founded as the Boy Sco ...

and earned the rank of First Class. He graduated from Westlake High School in 1954 and earned 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

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

from

Baldwin–Wallace College Baldwin Wallace University (BW) is a private university in Berea, Ohio, United States. Established in 1845 as Baldwin Institute by Methodist businessman John Baldwin, it merged with nearby German Wallace College in 1913 to become Baldwin-Wallac ...

in 1958, and a

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

degree in

aeronautics Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design process, design, and manufacturing of air flight-capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere. While the term originally referred ...

with a major 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 U.S.

Naval Postgraduate School Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is a Naval command with a graduate university mission, operated by the United States Navy and located in Monterey, California. The NPS mission is to provide "defense-focused graduate education, including clas ...

in 1964.

Career

Marine Corps

Overmyer entered active duty with the Marine Corps in January 1958. After completing Navy flight training in

Kingsville, Texas Kingsville is a city in the South Texas, southern region of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Kleberg County, Texas, Kleberg County. Located on the U.S. Route 77 in Texas, U.S. Route 77 corridor between Corpus Christi, Texas, Corpus C ...

, he was assigned to

VMA-214 Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 214 (VMFA-214) is a United States Marine Corps fighter attack squadron that currently flies the Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II. The squadron's home field is Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona, and it is ...

in November 1959. He was assigned to the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in 1962 to study aeronautical engineering. Upon completion of his graduate studies, he served one year with Marine Maintenance Squadron 17 at

MCAS Iwakuni is a joint Japan Maritime Self-Defense Forces and United States Marine Corps air station located in the Nishiki river delta, southeast of Iwakuni Station in the city of Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. History The Japanese government ...

, Japan before being assigned to the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at

Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in California. Most of the base sits in Kern County, California, Kern County, but its eastern end is in San Bernardino County, California, San Bernardino County and a souther ...

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 ...

. He was chosen as an astronaut for the

(MOL) program in 1966. Overmyer logged over 7,500 flight hours, with over 6,000 in

jet aircraft A jet aircraft (or simply jet) is an aircraft (nearly always a fixed-wing aircraft) propelled by one or more jet engines. Whereas the engines in Propeller (aircraft), propeller-powered aircraft generally achieve their maximum efficiency at much ...

NASA

The MOL program was canceled in 1969 and Overmyer was selected as part of

NASA Astronaut Group 7 NASA Astronaut Group 7 was a group of seven astronauts accepted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on August 14, 1969. It was the last group to be selected during the Project Apollo era, and the first since the Mercury S ...

, where his first assignment was engineering development on the

Program from 1969 to 1971. From 1971–72, he was a support crew member for

Apollo 17 Apollo 17 (December 7–19, 1972) was the eleventh and final mission of NASA's Apollo program, the sixth and most recent time humans have set foot on the Moon. Commander Gene Cernan and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt walked on the Moon, ...

and was the launch

capsule communicator Flight controllers are personnel who aid space flight by working in mission control centers such as NASA's Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center or ESA's European Space Operations Centre. Flight controllers work at computer consoles ...

(CAPCOM). From 1973–75, he was a support crew member for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project and was the NASA CAPCOM in the mission control center in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. In 1976, he was assigned duties on the space shuttle

Approach and Landing Tests The Approach and Landing Tests were a series of sixteen taxiing, taxi and flight trials of the prototype Space Shuttle Orbiter, Space Shuttle ''Space Shuttle Enterprise, Enterprise'' that took place between February and October 1977 to test the ...

(ALT) program and was the prime

T-38 Talon The Northrop T-38 Talon is a two-seat, twinjet supersonic jet trainer designed and produced by the American aircraft manufacturer Northrop Corporation. It was the world's first supersonic trainer as well as the most produced. The T-38 can be tra ...

chase pilot for Orbiter Free-Flights 1 and 3. In 1979, he was assigned as the deputy vehicle manager of OV-102 ('' Columbia'') in charge of finishing the manufacturing and tiling of ''Columbia'' at the Kennedy Space Center in preparation for its first flight. This assignment lasted until ''Columbia'' was transported to the launch pad in 1980.

Space Shuttle

=STS-5

= Overmyer was the pilot for

, the first fully operational flight of the shuttle program, which launched from

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 November 11, 1982. He was accompanied by spacecraft commander

Vance D. Brand Vance DeVoe Brand (born May 9, 1931) is a retired American naval officer, aviator, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, and NASA astronaut. He served as command module pilot during the first U.S.-Soviet joint spaceflight in 1975, and as commander ...

and two

mission specialists Mission specialist (MS) is a term for a specific position held by astronauts who are tasked with conducting a range of scientific, medical, or engineering experiments during a spaceflight mission. These specialists were usually assigned to a s ...

Joseph P. Allen Joseph Percival "Joe" Allen IV (born June 27, 1937) is an American former NASA astronaut. He logged more than 3,000 hours flying time in jet aircraft. Early life and education Allen was born in Crawfordsville, Indiana, in June 1937. His paren ...

and William B. Lenoir. STS-5, the first mission with a four-man crew, clearly demonstrated the shuttle as fully operational by the successful first deployment of two commercial communications satellites from the orbiter's payload bay. The mission marked the first use of the

Payload Assist Module The Payload Assist Module (PAM) is a modular upper stage designed and built by McDonnell Douglas (Boeing), using Thiokol Star-series solid propellant rocket motors. The PAM was used with the Space Shuttle, Delta, and Titan launchers and carried ...

(PAM-D) and its new ejection system. Numerous flight tests were performed throughout the mission to document shuttle performance during launch, boost, orbit, atmospheric entry and landing phases. STS-5 was the last flight to carry the Development Flight Instrumentation (DFI) package to support flight testing. A

Getaway Special Getaway Special was a NASA program that offered interested individuals, or groups, opportunities to fly small experiments aboard the Space Shuttle. Over the 20-year history of the program, over 170 individual missions were flown. The program, whi ...

, three Student Involvement Projects and medical experiments were also included on the mission. The STS-5 crew successfully concluded the five-day orbital flight of ''Columbia'' with the first entry and landing through a cloud deck to a hard-surface runway and demonstrated maximum braking. Mission duration was 122 hours before landing on a concrete runway at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on November 16, 1982.

=STS-51-B

Overmyer was the commander of

, the Spacelab-3 (SL-3) mission. He commanded a crew of four astronauts and two payload specialists conducting a broad range of scientific experiments from space physics to the suitability of animal holding facilities. STS-51-B was also the first shuttle flight to launch a small payload from a "Getaway Special" canister. STS-51-B launched at 12:02 p.m. EDT on April 29, 1985, from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, and landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, at 9:11 a.m. PDT on May 6, 1985. STS-51-B completed 110 orbits of Earth at an altitude of 190 nautical miles. STS-51-B Overmyer aims camera

In 1986, Overmyer was involved in the recovery of the ''Challenger'' disaster crew remains and was also one of NASA's lead investigators into the incident. Overmyer retired from NASA and the Marine Corps in May 1986.

Post NASA

After retiring from the space industry, Overmyer commenced his own consulting business, Mach Twenty Five International, Inc. He consulted with major aerospace corporations and the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) as well as writing a column for the British magazine Space Flight News. In March 1988, he joined the Space Station Team at

McDonnell Douglas McDonnell Douglas Corporation was a major American Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace manufacturing corporation and defense contractor, formed by the merger of McDonnell Aircraft and the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1967. Between then and its own ...

Aerospace, where he led crew and operations activities for seven years. He retired from McDonnell Douglas in April 1995 and expanded the scope of Mach Twenty Five International, continuing his aerospace consultation work as well as speaking engagements and writing.

Test pilot

Overmyer continued his career as a

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

test pilot. Having former experience with aeronautical testing at both U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School and

, he joined

Duluth, Minnesota Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...

-based aircraft manufacturer

Cirrus Design The Cirrus Design Corporation, doing business as Cirrus Aircraft (formally Cirrus Design), is an aircraft design, manufacturing, maintenance and management company, as well as a provider of flight training services, that was founded in 1984 by ...

(now called Cirrus Aircraft) as a test pilot in November 1995. He contributed to stall testing of the company's first design, the

kit aircraft Homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch", from plans, or from assembly kits.Armstrong, Kenn ...

, which first flew in 1988. He also performed early

certification Certification is part of testing, inspection and certification and the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestatio ...

testing for the

Cirrus SR20 The Cirrus SR20 is an American piston-engined, four- or five-seat composite material, composite monoplane built since 1999 by Cirrus Aircraft of Duluth, Minnesota. The aircraft is the company's earliest type certificate, type-certified model, ea ...

, which was certified in 1998 and helped pioneer the use of

glass cockpits A glass cockpit is an aircraft cockpit that features an array of electronic (digital) flight instrument displays, typically large LCD screens, rather than traditional analog dials and gauges. While a traditional cockpit relies on numerous mecha ...

composite materials A composite or composite material (also composition material) is a material which is produced from two or more constituent materials. These constituent materials have notably dissimilar chemical or physical properties and are merged to create a ...

and

ballistic parachute A ballistic parachute, ballistic reserve parachute, or emergency ballistic reserve parachute, is a parachute ejected from its casing by a small explosion, much like that used in an ejection seat. The advantage of the ballistic parachute over a co ...

s in the

light Light, visible light, or visible radiation is electromagnetic radiation that can be visual perception, perceived by the human eye. Visible light spans the visible spectrum and is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400– ...

production aircraft industry.

Death and family

Overmyer died in a plane crash on March 22, 1996, near the

Duluth International Airport : ''For the United States Air Force use of this facility, see Duluth Air National Guard Base.'' Duluth International Airport is a city-owned public-use joint civil-military airport located five nautical miles (9 km) northwest of the centr ...

while testing the VK-30. He was testing the plane's wing for full-flap stall recovery characteristics at aft center of gravity limits when the aircraft departed controlled flight. He was interred at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...

and is survived by his wife, Katherine, and three children: Carolyn Marie (born 1966), Patricia Ann (born 1968), and Robert Rolandus (born 1970).

Organizations and honors

Overmyer was a member of the

Society of Experimental Test Pilots The Society of Experimental Test Pilots is an international organization that seeks to promote air safety and contributes to aeronautical advancement by promoting sound aeronautical design and development; interchanging ideas, thoughts and sugges ...

Experimental Aircraft Association The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) is an international organization of aviation enthusiasts based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Since its inception, it has grown internationally with over 300,000 members and nearly 1,000 chapters worldwide. ...

, and

Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) is a Frederick, Maryland-based American non-profit political organization that advocates for general aviation. AOPA's membership consists mainly of general aviation pilots in the United States ...

. He was awarded the Air Force Meritorious Service Medal in 1969 for duties with the USAF Manned Orbiting Laboratory program; the Marine Corps Meritorious Service Medal in 1978 for duties as the chief chase pilot and support crewman for the Shuttle Approach and Landing Test Program; an

Honorary An honorary position is one given as an honor, with no duties attached, and without payment. Other uses include: * Honorary Academy Award, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, United States * Honorary Aryan, a status in Nazi Germany ...

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

degree from Baldwin–Wallace College, December 1982; the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School Distinguished Engineers Award in January 1983; the Distinguished Flying Cross (1983); and the

NASA Space Flight Medal The NASA Space Flight Medal is a decoration of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. According to its statutes, it is awarded "for significant achievement or service during individual participation as a civilian or military astronau ...

(1983). There is an Ohio

Historical Marker A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, bearing text or an image in relief, or both, ...

in Clague Park,

, commemorating his life and career.

References

External links

Astronautix biography of Robert F. Overmyer

Encyclopedia of Baldwin Wallace History: Robert Overmyer
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Overmyer, Robert Franklyn 1936 births 1996 deaths 20th-century American engineers 20th-century American physicists Accidental deaths in Minnesota American test pilots American aerospace engineers Aviators from Ohio Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Baldwin Wallace University alumni Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Engineers from Ohio Military personnel from Ohio Naval Postgraduate School alumni People from Lorain, Ohio People from Westlake, Ohio Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Space Shuttle program astronauts United States Marine Corps astronauts United States Marine Corps colonels United States Naval Aviators U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School alumni Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1996 Victims of flight test accidents