NASA Astronaut Group 5 includes the last living pilot of which North American test flight program?
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NASA Astronaut Group 5 NASA's Astronaut Group 5 was selected by NASA in April 1966. Of the six Lunar Module Pilots that walked on the Moon, three came from Group 5. The group as a whole is roughly split between the half who flew to the Moon (nine in all) and the other half who flew Skylab and Shuttle, providing the core of Shuttle Commanders early in that program. This group is also distinctive in being the only time when NASA hired a person into the astronaut corps who had already earned astronaut wings, X-15 pilot Joe Engle. John Young labelled the group the "Original Nineteen" in parody of the original seven Mercury astronauts.
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Joe Engle Joe Henry Engle (born August 26, 1932), (Maj Gen, USAF, Ret.), is an American pilot who served in the United States Air Force, test pilot for the North American X-15 program, aeronautical engineer, and a former NASA astronaut. As of 2017, he is the last living pilot of the X-15 program.
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Korabl-Sputnik 5 Korabl-Sputnik 5 (Russian: Корабль-Спутник 5 meaning "Ship-Satellite 5") or Vostok-3KA No.2, also known as Sputnik 10 in the West, was a Soviet spacecraft which was launched in 1961, as part of the Vostok programme. It was the last test flight of the Vostok spacecraft design prior the first manned flight, Vostok 1. It carried the mannequin Ivan Ivanovich, a dog named Zvezdochka ("Starlet", or "Little star"), television cameras and scientific apparatus.
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Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Christopher Columbus "Chris" Kraft Jr. (born February 28, 1924) is an American aerospace engineer and retired NASA engineer and manager who was instrumental in establishing the agency's Mission Control operation. Following his graduation from Virginia Tech in 1944, Kraft was hired by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the predecessor organization to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He worked for over a decade in aeronautical research before being asked in 1958 to join the Space Task Group, a small team entrusted with the responsibility of putting America's first man in space. Assigned to the flight operations division, Kraft became NASA's first flight director. He was on duty during such historic missions as America's first manned spaceflight, first manned orbital flight, and first spacewalk.
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Daniel W. Bursch Daniel Wheeler Bursch (born July 25, 1957) is a former NASA astronaut, and Captain of the United States Navy. He had four spaceflights, the first three of which were Space Shuttle missions lasting 10 to 11 days each. His fourth and final spaceflight was a long-duration stay aboard the International Space Station as a crew member of Expedition 4, which lasted from December 2001 to June 2002. This 196-day mission set a new record for the longest duration spaceflight for an American astronaut, a record simultaneously set with his crew mate Carl Walz. This record has since been broken, and as of 2010 it is held by Michael Lopez-Alegria, who had a 215-day spaceflight as Commander of Expedition 14.
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NASA Astronaut Group 12 NASA's Astronaut Group 12 (the GAFFers) was announced by NASA on 5 June 1987.
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Eric Boe Eric Allen Boe (born October 1, 1964) is a United States Air Force fighter pilot Colonel, test pilot and a NASA astronaut. He flew as the pilot of Space Shuttle missions STS-126 and STS-133.
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William G. Gregory William George "Borneo" Gregory (born May 14, 1957), is an American retired NASA astronaut and United States Air Force lieutenant colonel.
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Kevin P. Chilton Kevin Patrick "Chilli" Chilton (born November 3, 1954) is an American mechanical engineer, and former United States Air Force four-star General and test pilot. His last assignment was as Commander, U.S. Strategic Command from October 3, 2007 to January 28, 2011. Prior to his appointment to general officer ranks, Chilton spent 11 years of his military career as a NASA astronaut. He retired from the Air Force on February 1, 2011, after having achieved the highest rank of any military astronaut. On January 30, 2012, General Chilton was named to the board of directors of Orbital Sciences Corporation.
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Apollo 4 Apollo 4, (also known as AS-501), was the first unmanned test flight of the Saturn V launch vehicle, which was used by the U.S. Apollo program to send the first astronauts to the Moon. The space vehicle was assembled in the Vertical Assembly Building, and was the first to be launched from Launch Complex 39 at the John F. Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida, facilities built specially for the Saturn V.
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Andrew M. Allen Andrew Michael "Andy" Allen (born 4 August 1955) is a retired American astronaut. A former Marine aviator and lieutenant colonel, he worked as a test pilot before joining NASA in 1987. He flew three Space Shuttle missions before retiring in 1997.
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Space Shuttle Endeavour Space Shuttle "Endeavour" (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-105) is a retired orbiter from NASA's Space Shuttle program and the fifth and final operational shuttle built. It embarked on its first mission, STS-49, in May 1992 and its 25th and final mission, STS-134, in May 2011. STS-134 was expected to be the final mission of the Space Shuttle program, but with the authorization of STS-135, "Atlantis" became the last shuttle to fly.
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James Irwin James Benson "Jim" Irwin (March 17, 1930 – August 8, 1991) (Col, USAF) was an American astronaut, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, and a United States Air Force pilot. He served as lunar module pilot for Apollo 15, the fourth human lunar landing. He was the eighth person to walk on the Moon and the first, and youngest, of those astronauts to die.
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Mike Mullane Richard Michael "Mike" Mullane (born September 10, 1945) is an engineer, a retired USAF officer and a former NASA astronaut, flying on three Space Shuttle missions.
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Robert L. Gibson Robert Lee "Hoot" Gibson (born October 30, 1946), (Capt, USN, Ret.), is a former American naval officer and aviator, test pilot, aeronautical engineer, and a retired NASA astronaut, as well as a professional pilot who currently races regularly at the annual Reno Air Races.
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John Young (astronaut) John Watts Young (born September 24, 1930) is an American former astronaut, naval officer and aviator, test pilot, and aeronautical engineer, who became the ninth person to walk on the Moon as Commander of the Apollo 16 mission in 1972.
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Robert M. Bowman Robert M. Bowman (September 19, 1934 - August 22, 2013) was a former Director of Advanced Space Programs Development for the U.S. Air Force in the Ford and Carter administrations, and a former United States Air Force Lieutenant Colonel with 101 combat missions. He received a Ph.D. in aeronautics and nuclear engineering from the California Institute of Technology.
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486th Flight Test Squadron The 486th Flight Test Squadron is a secretive unit, with a somewhat misleading designation, assigned to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, and which is associated with United States Department of State Foreign Emergency Support Team activities. The squadron motto is ""Non semper ea sunt quae videntur"" which translates as "Not always what they seem". It was apparently assigned to the 227th Special Operations Flight, later redesignated the 150th Special Operations Squadron, McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey, but is currently assigned to the 46th Test Wing at Eglin, and operates a pair of Boeing C-32B or Boeing 757-23A aircraft, on stand-by alert for special operations and intelligence missions world-wide. Official documents make it clear that operations fall under the aegis of Air Force Special Operations Command.
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STS-61-A STS-61-A (also known as D-1) was the 22nd mission of NASA's Space Shuttle program. It was a scientific Spacelab mission, funded and directed by West Germany – hence the non-NASA designation of D-1 (for "Deutschland-1"). STS-61-A was the ninth and final successful flight of Space Shuttle Challenger. STS-61-A holds the current record for the largest crew - eight people - aboard any single spacecraft for the entire period from launch to landing.
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Anthony W. England Anthony Wayne England (born May 15, 1942), better known as Tony England, is an American, former NASA astronaut. Selected in 1967, England was among a group of astronauts who served as backups during the Apollo and Skylab programs. Like most others in his class, he flew during the Space Shuttle program, serving as a mission specialist on STS-51F in 1985. He has logged more than 3,000 hours of flying time and 188 hours in space.
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STS-70 STS-70 was the 21st flight of the Space Shuttle "Discovery", and the last of 7 shuttle missions to carry a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS). This was the first shuttle mission controlled from the new mission control center room at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. STS-70 was also the first flight of the new Block 1 orbiter main engine, designed to improve both engine performance and safety. The mission was launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on 13 July 1995, only six days after the landing of sister ship "Atlantis", marking the fastest turnaround between flights in the history of the program.
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NASA Hyper III The NASA Hyper III was an American unpowered full-scale lifting body remotely piloted vehicle designed and built at the NASA Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, California.