Michael J. Adams | |
|---|---|
 Adams in 1967 standing next to a X-15 plane | |
| Born | Michael James Adams May 5, 1930 Sacramento, California, U.S. |
| Died | November 15, 1967 (aged 37) Near Johannesburg, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Mulhearn Memorial Park Cemetery |
| Alma mater | Sacramento City College University of Oklahoma, B.S. 1958 |
| Occupation(s) | Fighter pilot, test pilot |
| Space career | |
| USAF astronaut | |
| Rank | Major, USAF |
| Selection | 1965 USAF MOL Group 1 |
| Missions | X-15 Flight 191 |
Michael James Adams (May 5, 1930 – November 15, 1967) (Maj USAF) was an American aviator, aeronautical engineer, and USAF astronaut.[1] He was one of twelve pilots who flew the North American X-15, an experimental spaceplane jointly operated by the Air Force and NASA.
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.
- ^ Evans, Michelle (June 1, 2013). Burgess, Colin (ed.). The X-15 Rocket Plane: Flying the First Wings Into Space. Outward Odyssey: A People's History of Spaceflight. Lincoln, London: University of Nebraska Press. pp. 362–401. ISBN 978-0-8032-2840-5.