BILL DANA (1930-2014)
Bill Dana's X-15 rocket plane had stopped climbing at 306,900 feet and he began descending the 58 miles down to the Mojave Dessert. "The horizon appeared as a ring of bright blue around the shell of the Earth with darkness above, he later said. "I knew I'd gotten all the altitude I needed to qualify as a space adventurer."
He helped usher in the Space Age in the 1960s by flying rocket planes to supersonic speeds and stratospheric heights died at age 83 May 6, 2014.
Test pilots are considered to be the best of the best. And back then, they had little assurance they would survive. Over his 48-year career he flew more than 8,000 hours in more than 60 aircraft. Several of them now hang in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
But, he is probably best-known for his work in the X-15 Program.
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