Robert A. Rushworth

USAF Astronaut
Nationality	American
Born	October 9, 1924
Occupation1	Test Pilot
Selection
Mission(s)	Flight 87
Mission insignia
1 previous or current

Robert Aitken Rushworth was a United States Air Force test pilot for the X-15 program. Born in Madison, Maine on October 9, 1924. He studied mechanical engineering at the University of Maine, receiving a BE in 1951. He received a BS in aeronautical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology in 1958. He was selected for the X-15 program in 1958, and made his first flight on November 4, 1960. Over the next six years, he made 34 flights in the X-15, the most of any pilot. This included a flight to an altitude of 285,000 feet, made on June 27, 1963. This flight above 50 miles qualified Rushworth for astronaut wings, though he would have attained that honor sooner had the Man In Space Soonest project proceeded according to plan. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (892x1178, 284 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Robert A. Rushworth Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used... Seal of the Air Force. ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Test pilots work on developing, evaluating and proving experimental aircraft. ... Image File history File links X-15_insignia. ... The U.S. Air Force redirects here, for the official song, see The U.S. Air Force (song) The United States Air Force (USAF) is the aerospace branch of the United States armed forces and one of the seven uniformed services. ... Test pilots work on developing, evaluating and proving experimental aircraft. ... Description Role: Research Aircraft Crew: one, pilot Dimensions Length: 50. ... Madison is a town located in Somerset County, Maine. ... Official language(s) None (English de facto) Capital Augusta Largest city Portland Area  Ranked 39th  - Total 33,414 sq mi (86,542 km²)  - Width 210 miles (338 km)  - Length 320 miles (515 km)  - % water 13. ... October 9 is the 282nd day of the year (283rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Mechanical engineers design and build engines and power plants. ... The University of Maine, established in 1865, is the flagship university of the University of Maine System. ... Aerospace engineering is the branch of engineering concerning aircraft, spacecraft and related topics. ... The Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) is located at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio in Area B. The Institute includes a School of Systems and Logistics, and a School of Engineering. ... 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... November 4 is the 308th day of the year (309th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 57 days remaining. ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... June 27 is the 178th day of the year (179th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 187 days remaining. ... 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ... An Astronaut Badge is a United States, awarded to military aviation pilots who have completed Astronaut training with NASA and performed a successful space flight. ... Man In Space Soonest was a American program to put an astronaut into outer space before the Soviet Union would be able to. ...

On a later X-15 flight, he was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross for successfully landing an X-15 after its nose wheel extended while flying at nearly Mach 5. He made his final X-15 flight on July 1, 1966, then returned to regular Air Force duties. These included a tour in Vietnam as an F-4 pilot, flying 189 combat missions. He also served as the Commander of the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, and as the Commander of the Air Force Test and Evaluation Center at Kirtland Air Force Base. At the time of his retirement as a major general, he was Vice Commander, Aeronautical Systems Division, Air Force Systems Command, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Rushworth flew C-47s and C-46s as a transport pilot in World War II, as well as F-80Cs, F-101s, TF-102s, F-104s, F-105s, F-106s, and F-4s. He also served in the Korean War. The Distinguished Flying Cross. ... July 1 is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 183 days remaining. ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... The F-4 Phantom II (simply F-4 Phantom after 1990) is a two-place (tandem), supersonic, long-range, all-weather fighter-bomber built by McDonnell Douglas Corporation. ... Edwards Air Force Base is an airbase located on the border of Kern County and Los Angeles County, California in the Antelope Valley, 7 miles (11 km) due East of Rosamond, at 34°57′ N 117°52′ W. An airbase since 1933, Edwards has long been a home for flight... Edwards Air Force Base is a base located on the border of Kern County and Los Angeles County, California in the Antelope Valley, northeast of Lancaster. ... Kirtland Air Force Base is located in the southeast quadrant of Albuquerque, New Mexico, adjacent to the Albuquerque International Sunport. ... Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is a U.S. Air Force base in Greene and Montgomery counties, adjacent to Riverside, Fairborn, Beavercreek, and Dayton, Ohio. ... Combatants Major Allied powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Major Axis powers: Nazi Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Harry Truman Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead... Combatants United Nations: Republic of Korea United States United Kingdom Canada Australia The Netherlands France Philippines Turkey Ethiopia Communist states: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea People’s Republic of China Soviet Union Commanders Syngman Rhee Chung Il Kwon Douglas MacArthur Mark W. Clark Matthew Ridgway Kim Il-sung Choi...

Rushworth was a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, and in 1975 received the SETP's James H. Doolittle Award for "outstanding accomplishment in technical management or engineering achievement in aerospace technology". Rushworth retired on June 1, 1981. He died of natural causes in Camarillo, California on March 17, 1993. In 1994, he was inducted into the Aerospace Walk of Honor The Society of Experimental Test Pilots was founded in 1955 as the Testy Test Pilots Society and had Scott Crossfield, Ray Tenhoff, Joe Ozier, Dick Johnson, Tom Kilgariff, John Fitzpatrick as its original members. ... The James H. Doolittle Award is an honor presented annually by the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. ... Motto: The People are the City Location of Camarillo Country United States State California County Ventura Settled 1898 Incorporated (city) 1964 City Manager Jerry Bankston Area    - City 49. ... March 17 is the 76th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (77th in Leap years). ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... The Aerospace Walk of Honor in Lancaster, California is a continually-growing venue for honoring test pilots who have significantly contributed to aviation and space research and development. ...

References

• Thompson, Milton O. (1992) At The Edge Of Space: The X-15 Flight Program, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington and London. ISBN 1-56098-107-5