- Burt Rutan
Elbert Leander "Burt" Rutan (born June 17, 1943 in Estacada, Oregon) is an American aerospace engineer noted for his originality in designing light, strong, unusual-looking, energy-efficient aircraft. He is most famous for his design of the record-breaking Voyager, which was the first plane to fly around the world without stopping or refueling, and the suborbital rocket plane SpaceShipOne, which won the Ansari X-Prize in 2004.
- John D. Anderson
John D. Anderson, Jr. (October 1, 1937) is the Curator of Aerodynamics at the National Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC and Professor Emeritus in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park. Dr. Anderson is active and known for his professional and educational activities both nationally and internationally. He has given over 40 short courses to the major aerospace companies, the Air Force Academy, …
- Hans Mark
Hans Mark is a professor of aerospace engineering and engineering Mechanics at the University of Texas at Austin. He also holds the John J. McKetta Centennial Energy Chair in Engineering. During his tenure as Secretary of the Air Force in 1978-1981, Mark initiated the establishment of the U.S. Air Force Space Command. Mark also directed the NASA-Ames Research Center for eight years.
- Dennis Tito
Dennis Anthony Tito (born August 8, 1940 in Queens, New York) is a United States multimillionaire who gained celebrity status by becoming the first space tourist to pay for his own ticket, although he himself opposes being called "tourist" and asks to be called an "independent researcher" since he performed several scientific experiments in orbit. Tito has a Bachelor of Science in Astronautics and Aeronautics from New York University, …
- Dick Scobee
Francis Richard "Dick" Scobee (May 19, 1939 - January 28, 1986) was an American astronaut who died commanding the Space Shuttle Challenger, which suffered catastrophic booster failure during launch of the STS-51-L mission. Born in Cle Elum, Washington, Scobee enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1957, where he served as a reciprocating engine mechanic at Kelly Air Force Base in Texas.
- Jeff Latas
Jeff Latas (born January 10, 1958) was a 2006 Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in Arizona Congressional District 8. Latas worked as a construction carpenter and attended Pima Community College. He was then accepted into the Air Force ROTC program and Aerospace Engineering program at the University of Arizona, and upon graduation, he was commissioned into the United States Air Force. He flew the F-111D and served as a flight instructor in T-38s.
- Michael Porter
Michael Eugene Porter is an American academic focused on management and economics. He has made important contributions to strategic management and strategy theory, Porter's main academic objectives focus on how a firm or a region can build a competitive advantage and develop competitive strategy. Porter's strategic system consists primarily of: * 5 forces analysis * strategic groups (also called strategic sets) * the value chain * the generic strategies of cost leadership, …
- Robert Curbeam
Robert Lee Curbeam, Jr. (b. March 5, 1962) is an American astronaut and Captain in the United States Navy. Curbeam graduated from Woodlawn High School, Baltimore County, Maryland in 1980. He earned a bachelor of science degree in aerospace engineering from the United States Naval Academy in 1984 and a master of science degree in aeronautical engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in 1990.
- Susan Williams
Susan Rene Bartholomew-Williams (born June 17, 1969 in Long Beach, California) is an athlete from the United States, who competes in triathlon. Williams competed at the second Olympic triathlon at the 2004 Summer Olympics. She placed third with a total time of 2:05:08.92. Her split times were 19:02 for the swim, 1:08:58 for the cycling, and 0:37:08 for the run. She earned a B.S. in aerospace engineering from the University of Alabama in 1992.
- Thomas Gold
Thomas Gold (May 22, 1920 - June 22, 2004) was an Austrian astrophysicist, a professor of astronomy at Cornell University, and a member of the US National Academy of Sciences. Gold was one of three young Cambridge scientists who in the 1950s proposed the now mostly abandoned 'steady state' hypothesis of the universe. Gold's work crossed academic and scientific boundaries, into biophysics, astrophysics, space engineering, and geophysics.
- Travis Taylor
Travis Shane Taylor is a science fiction author from the South-Eastern United States, living near Huntsville, Alabama. He holds a doctorate in Optical Science and Engineering, Master's Degrees in Physics, Aerospace Engineering (all from the University of Alabama in Huntsville), and Astronomy (from the University of Western Sydney)and a Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering from Auburn University. He is also a licensed Professional Engineer in the state of Alabama.
- Marsha Ivins
Marsha Sue Ivins (born 15 April 1951) is an American astronaut and a veteran of five space shuttle missions. Ivins, born in Baltimore, Maryland, earned a degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1973 and went to work for NASA's Johnson Space Center. She worked mainly on orbiter displays and controls before being assigned as a flight engineer in 1980 and co-pilot on NASA administrative aircraft.
- T. A. Heppenheimer
Thomas A. Heppenheimer (born 1947) is a major space advocate and researcher in planetary science, aerospace engineering, and celestial mechanics. His books are on the recommended reading list of the National Space Society.
- Akihiko Hoshide
Akihiko Hoshide is a Japanese engineer and a JAXA astronaut. He was born in 1968 in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan and received a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Keio University in 1992, and a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering in 1997. He joined the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) in 1992 and worked in the development of the H-II launch vehicle for two years.
- Dan Allen
Dan Allen is a stand-up comedian currently based in New York City. He was born in Daytona Beach, Florida. His family was poor and apt to move from place to place. They eventually settled down in San Antonio, Texas. While at school Allen was an avid reader. Because of this, he was considered a geek and became alienated from his classmates. He graduated from Robert E. Lee High School.
- Maurizio Cheli
Maurizio Cheli (born 4 May 1959) is an Italian air force officer, an ESA astronaut and a veteran of one NASA space shuttle mission. A native of Modena, Cheli attended the Italian Air Force Academy and trained as a test pilot. He studied geophysics at the University of Rome La Sapienza and earned a master's degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Houston.
- Mark D. Maughmer
Dr. Mark D. Maughmer is a Professor of Aerospace Engineering in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University. He is a widely published author known throughout the world as one of the leading aerodynamists, especially in the areas of airfoil and winglet design and analysis, wing planform optimization, natural laminar flow aerodynamics, and subsonic, low turbulence wind-tunnel design and operation.
- James R. French
James R. French is a prominent U.S. aerospace engineer. While working for different NASA contractors during the 1960s, he helped design, develop and test the rocket engines for the Apollo/Saturn launch vehicles and the Apollo Lunar Module that enabled humans to walk on the Moon. He then joined NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) where he worked on the Mariner, Viking, and Voyager missions. French is a long-time advocate of a mission architecture for a Mars probe, …
- Jean-Claude Flabel
Jean-Claude Flabel is the author of the aerospace engineering textbook Practical Stress Analysis for Design Engineers; a handbook on practical stress analysis which is widely used within the aerospace industry. Jean-Claude Flabel graduated from the California State University, Northridge in 1970 with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. He has worked with a number of prominent aerospace companies including Rockwell International, Gulfstream American, …
- Gregory T. Linteris
Gregory Thomas Linteris, Ph.D. (born October 4, 1957 in Demarest, New Jersey) is an American scientist who flew as a payload specialist on two NASA Space Shuttle missions in 1997.
- Stephen Frick
Stephen Nathaniel Frick (born 30 September 1964) is an American astronaut and a veteran of one space shuttle mission. Raised in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Frick earned a degree in aerospace engineering from the United States Naval Academy in 1986, was commissioned as a Navy officer, and trained as a F/A-18 fighter pilot.
- Robert L. Stewart
Robert Lee Stewart is a retired Brigadier General of the United States Army and former NASA astronaut.
- Eugen Sänger
Eugen Sänger was an Austrian aerospace engineer best known for his contributions to lifting body and ramjet technology. His name is pronounced "Oy ghen Zeng er", and must be spelled either with the umlaut, or as "Saenger." Sänger was born in Preßnitz in Bohemia, at that time part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He studied civil engineering at the Technical Universities of Graz and Vienna.
- Kurt Tank
Kurt Waldemar Tank (February 24 1898 - June 5 1983) was a resourceful German aeronautical engineer and test pilot, heading the design department at Focke-Wulf from 1931-45. He designed several important aircraft of World War II, including the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter aircraft. Before Focke Wulf, Tank was employed by Albatros Flugzeugwerke, but after their bankruptcy in 1929, …
- D. Lewis Mingori
D. Lewis (Tino) Mingori, an American, was a longtime professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). He currently serves as a Professor Emeritus. His research and teaching focused on dynamics and control, stability theory, nonlinear methods, applications to space and ground vehicles.
- Kenneth S. Reightler Jr.
Kenneth Stanley Reightler, Jr. (born March 24, 1951) was a NASA astronaut. Reightler was born in Patuxent River, Maryland, but considers Virginia Beach, Virginia, to be his hometown. Married to the former Maureen Ellen McHenry, they have two daughters. He enjoys sailing, wind surfing, camping. His parents, Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth S. Reightler, Sr., reside in Virginia Beach, as does her mother, Mrs. Jean W. McHenry. Her father, Cdr. William H. McHenry, USN, is deceased.
- Doug Shane
Douglas B. Shane was a member of the Scaled Composites astronaut team and one of the test pilots for SpaceShipOne, the experimental spaceplane developed by Scaled Composites. Shane worked as the operations director on the SpaceShipOne project in addition to being one of the craft's astronaut pilots.
- Anton Flettner
Anton Flettner (November 1, 1885 in Eddersheim (today a district of Hattersheim am Main) - December 29, 1961) was a German aviation engineer and inventor. He made important contributions to airplane and helicopter design.
- Peter Siebold
Peter Siebold is a member of the Scaled Composites astronaut team and was one of the test pilots for SpaceShipOne, the experimental spaceplane developed by Scaled Composites. On 8 April, 2004, Siebold piloted the second powered test flight of SpaceShipOne, flight 13P, which reached a top speed of Mach 1.6 and an altitude of 32.0 kilometers. He was scheduled to pilot mission 16P, which was the first of the competitive X-Prize flights, …
- John B. Nathman
Admiral John B. Nathman was the Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command until 17 May, 2007. A native of San Antonio, Texas, he graduated with distinction from the United States Naval Academy in 1970. In 1972, he qualified as a naval aviator, receiving the Naval Training Command's Outstanding Pilot Graduate Award while also completing a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering. Admiral Nathman has served in a variety of sea, shore and joint assignments, …
- Cheick Modibo Diarra
Cheick Diarra , the regional chairman for Microsoft has said many times that we believe in the incredible potential of Africa. We see how technology can help the continent overcome many of the challenges it faces and become truly competitive in the global marketplace.
- Jack Ridley
Jackie L. "Jack" Ridley (June 16, 1915 - March 12, 1957) was a colonel in the United States Air Force and a noted test pilot who came to public attention through his frequent affiliation with Chuck Yeager. Ridley received his Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from the University of Oklahoma in 1939 and his Master's degree in aerospace engineering from the California Institute of Technology in 1945. Having served in the army before graduate school, …
- Chuck Devore
Charles S. DeVore (born May 20, 1962) is a U.S. politician, currently serving as a Republican member of the California State Assembly, representing the 70th District, which includes portions of Orange County. He currently serves in the Assembly Republican leadership as Republican Whip. Born in Seattle, Washington, DeVore moved to California when he was 13 years old. After enrolling in the United States Army Reserve in 1983, …
- Michael Phillip Anderson
Michael Phillip Anderson was a Lieutenant Colonel (USAF), a NASA astronaut and the Space Shuttle payload commander of STS-107 ("Columbia") who was killed when the craft disintegrated after reentry into the Earth's atmosphere.
- Antonia Terzi
Antonia Terzi (born April 20, 1971, Modena, Italy) is an aerodynamicist who has worked for the Ferrari and Williams Formula One teams. Terzi worked in the design department at Ferrari under Rory Byrne until 2002 when she was recruited by Williams to become the teams chief aerodynamicist. Working alongside designer Gavin Fisher Terzi's time with Williams was marked by a turbulent relationship with other technical staff and the largely uncompetitive 'walrus nose' FW26.
- Chris Heintz
An accomplished aeronautical engineer, Chris(tophe) Heintz is a graduate of the E.T.H. Institute in Zürich, Switzerland. After serving in the French Air Force, Heintz worked for Aerospatiale on the supersonic Concorde jetliner, and later became chief engineer at Avions Robin in France where he designed several fully-certified two and four seat all-metal production aircraft. In his spare time, Heintz began to design and build his own aircraft, which he named the ZENITH, …
- Pablo de León
Pablo de León is an Argentinian, born in Cañuelas, Argentina. He is the team leader of the Ansari X Prize Team based in Buenos Aires and the payload manager of Project PADE, a group of seven Argentine experiments flown in the NASA Space Shuttle Endeavour in December 2001. De León is also the founder of the Argentine Association of Space Technology and the Latin American Space Association among other space organizations, …
- Janet Guthrie
Janet Guthrie (born March 7, 1938 in Iowa City, Iowa) is a race car driver and the first woman to qualify and compete in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500. Guthrie was originally an aerospace engineer and after graduating from the University of Michigan, she worked with Republic Aviation. She began racing in 1963 on the SCCA circuit in a Jaguar XK 140 and by 1972, she was racing on a full-time basis. In 1976, Guthrie got her first big break in racing, …
- Klaus von Storch
Klaus von Storch Kruge (b. February 20 1962) is a Chilean aerospace engineer and astronaut trainee. Von Storch was born in Osorno, in southern Chile. In 1992, he was selected by the Chilean Space Agency for the preparation for the flight on the Space Shuttle. In 2001, he was considered as candidate for that flight aboard a Russian Spacecraft during a taxi-flight to the ISS in spring 2003; but in September 2002 the medical board at the IMBP was not passed.
- Ronald L. Turner
Ronald L. Turner was the Chairman and chief executive officer of Ceridian Corporation. Turner joined Ceridian in 1993 as President of Computing Devices International. He was appointed Executive Vice President of Operations for Ceridian Corporation in 1997 and President and Chief Operating Officer in 1998. He assumed his present position in 2000. Turner holds a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Tennessee, …