Donald E. Williams
Donald Edward Williams (February 13, 1942 – February 23, 2016) was an American naval officer and aviator, test pilot, mechanical engineer and NASA astronaut. He logged a total of 287 hours and 35 minutes in space. Early life and education Captain Williams was born February 13, 1942, in Lafayette, Indiana and raised in the nearby town of Green Hill. He graduated from Otterbein High School in Otterbein in 1960. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University in 1964. Navy service Williams received his commission through the Naval ROTC program at Purdue University. He completed flight training at Pensacola, Florida, Meridian, Mississippi and Kingsville, Texas, receiving his Naval Aviator wings in May 1966. After A-4 Skyhawk training, he made two Vietnam War deployments aboard the aircraft carrier with Attack Squadron 113 ( VA-113). He served as a flight instructor in Attack Squadron 125 ( VA-125) at Naval Air Station Lemoore, California ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Lafayette, Indiana
Lafayette ( ) is a city in and is the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, located northwest of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of Lafayette was 70,783. West Lafayette, Indiana, West Lafayette, on the other side of the Wabash River, is home to Purdue University, which contributes significantly to both communities. Together, they form the core of the Lafayette metropolitan area, Indiana, Lafayette metropolitan area, which had a population of 235,066 in 2020. Lafayette was founded in 1825 on the southeast bank of the Wabash River near where the river becomes impassable for riverboats upstream, though a French fort and trading post had existed since 1717 on the opposite bank and three miles downstream. It was named for the French general Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, Marquis de Lafayette, a American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War hero. History When European explo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States's civil list of government space agencies, space program, aeronautics research and outer space, space research. National Aeronautics and Space Act, Established in 1958, it succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) to give the American space development effort a distinct civilian orientation, emphasizing peaceful applications in space science. It has since led most of America's space exploration programs, including Project Mercury, Project Gemini, the 1968–1972 Apollo program missions, the Skylab space station, and the Space Shuttle. Currently, NASA supports the International Space Station (ISS) along with the Commercial Crew Program and oversees the development of the Orion (spacecraft), Orion spacecraft and the Sp ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union and China, while South Vietnam was supported by the United States and other anti-communist nations. The conflict was the second of the Indochina wars and a proxy war of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and US. The Vietnam War was one of the postcolonial wars of national liberation, a theater in the Cold War, and a civil war, with civil warfare a defining feature from the outset. Direct United States in the Vietnam War, US military involvement escalated from 1965 until its withdrawal in 1973. The fighting spilled into the Laotian Civil War, Laotian and Cambodian Civil Wars, which ended with all three countries becoming Communism, communist in 1975. After the defeat of the French Union in the First Indoc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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A-4 Skyhawk
The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk is a single-seat subsonic carrier-capable light attack aircraft designed and produced by the American aerospace manufacturer Douglas Aircraft Company, and later, McDonnell Douglas. It was originally designated A4D under the United States Navy's pre-1962 designation system. The Skyhawk was developed during the early 1950s on behalf of the Navy and United States Marine Corps as a replacement for the propeller-driven Douglas A-1 (AD) Skyraider. The A-4 is a compact, straightforward, and lightweight aircraft for the era; its maximum takeoff weight of was roughly half of the Navy's weight specification. The Skyhawk has a short-span delta wing configuration, a tricycle undercarriage, and is powered by a single turbojet engine. The U.S. Navy issued a contract for the aircraft on 12 June 1952. On 22 June 1954, the XA4D-1 prototype performed its maiden flight; it went on to set a world speed record of 695.163 mph on 15 October 1955. On 1 October 1956, t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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United States Naval Aviator
A naval aviator is a commissioned officer or warrant officer qualified as a crewed aircraft pilot in the United States Navy or United States Marine Corps. United States Coast Guard crewed aircraft pilots are officially designated as "Coast Guard aviators", although they complete the same undergraduate flight training as Navy and Marine Corps crewed aircraft pilots, and are awarded the same aviation breast insignia. Naming conventions In the U.S. Navy, most naval aviators are unrestricted line officers (URLs), eligible for command at sea, but a small number of former senior enlisted personnel subsequently commissioned as line limited duty officers and warrant officer, chief warrant officers in the aviation operations technician specialty have also been trained as naval aviators and naval flight officers. A small number of URL officers trained as naval aviators and naval flight officers who hold technical degrees at the undergraduate and/or postgraduate level may also opt to later ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Kingsville, Texas
Kingsville is a city in the South Texas, southern region of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Kleberg County, Texas, Kleberg County. Located on the U.S. Route 77 in Texas, U.S. Route 77 corridor between Corpus Christi, Texas, Corpus Christi and Harlingen, Texas, Harlingen, Kingsville is the principal city of the Kingsville, Texas micropolitan area, Kingsville Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of the larger Corpus Christi-Kingsville Combined Statistical Area. The population was 25,402 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, and in 2022 the U.S. Census Bureau estimated the population at 24,833. Named in honor of Richard King (entrepreneur), Richard King, the city was founded to provide infrastructure for the adjacent King Ranch, as well as serve as the headquarters of the newly founded St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway. In 1904, the first tracks were laid and the first buildings constructed for the planned city. In 1911, the city was incorporate ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Meridian, Mississippi
Meridian is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, eighth most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, with a population of 35,052 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Mississippi, Lauderdale County and the principal city of the Meridian, Mississippi Micropolitan Statistical Area. Along major highways, the city is east of Jackson, Mississippi, Jackson; southwest of Birmingham, Alabama; northeast of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana; and southeast of Memphis, Tennessee. Established in 1860, at the junction of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad and Southern Railway (U.S.), Southern Railway of Mississippi, Meridian built an economy based on the railways and goods transported on them, and it became a strategic trading center. During the American Civil War, Civil War, General William Tecumseh Sherman burned much of the city to the ground in the Battle of Meridian (February 1864). Rebuilt after the war, the city entered a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only incorporated city, city in Escambia County, Florida, Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Pensacola metropolitan area, which had 509,905 residents in the 2020 census. Pensacola was first settled by the Spanish Empire in 1559, antedating the establishment of St. Augustine, Florida, St. Augustine by six years, but was abandoned due to a significant hurricane and not resettled until 1698. Pensacola is a Port of Pensacola, seaport on Pensacola Bay, which is protected by the barrier island of Santa Rosa Island (Florida), Santa Rosa and connects to the Gulf of Mexico. A large Naval Air Station Pensacola, United States Naval Air Station, the first in the United States, is located in Pensacola. It is the base of the Blue Angels flight-demonstration team and the National Naval Aviation Museum. The Univers ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps
The Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) program is a college-based, commissioned officer training program of the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. Origins A pilot Naval Reserve unit was established in September 1924 at St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland. It let the Navy test the concept before establishing its regular units. In 1926, the U.S. Department of the Navy established the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps. Its purpose was to produce a reserve of qualified officers who would be needed for a possible rapid expansion of the military in the case of an unforeseen emergency. A secondary objective was to acquaint college faculty and students with the Navy and its national importance. Sixty Naval Reserve Freshmen were accepted at each of the original units at the University of California, Berkeley, Northwestern University, University of Washington, Harvard University, Yale University, and Georgia Institute of Technology. Captain Chester ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and maintain mechanical systems. It is one of the oldest and broadest of the List of engineering branches, engineering branches. Mechanical engineering requires an understanding of core areas including mechanics, Analytical dynamics, dynamics, thermodynamics, materials science, design, structural analysis, and electricity. In addition to these core principles, mechanical engineers use tools such as computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), computer-aided engineering (CAE), and product lifecycle management to design and analyze manufacturing plants, industrial equipment and industrial machinery, machinery, HVAC, heating and cooling systems, transport systems, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Otterbein, Indiana
Otterbein is a town in Shelby Township, Tippecanoe County and Bolivar Township, Benton County, Indiana, named for William Otterbein Brown who donated land for the town. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,144. It is part of the Lafayette, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Originally a site known as Pond Grove, Otterbein's first 60 lots were laid out by John Levering and his wife on October 25, 1872, with an addition by Mary A. Clancey on April 24, 1883. The first home was built by Dr. John K. Thompson and the first business, a general store, by Henry H. Moore. William Otterbein Brown, the farmer and stock-dealer for whom the town was named, held the office of postmaster until his death on February 18, 1879. Otterbein High School ran from 1910 to 1966, when the consolidated Benton Community School Corporation came into existence. The gym and most of the building burned in a fire in 1975. As of 2023, Otterbein has two churches, Catholic and United Meth ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
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Green Hill, Indiana
Green Hill is a small unincorporated community in Medina Township, Warren County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. History The town was platted on March 5, 1832 by William B. Bailey and his brother Horatio who named it Milford, for their home town of Milford, Delaware. The plat included 48 lots, two north/south streets (Main and East) and three east/west streets (Pine, Center and Warren). The first store opened in 1833 and was followed in subsequent years by several more businesses, including a liquor store, blacksmith, grocery, tannery, shoe-maker, wagon-maker and others. A post office was established on December 2, 1837 as Poolesville, in honor of the town's first resident physician, Dr. Poole — it retained the name until August 13, 1904. In 1869 the citizens of the town voted to incorporate, and renamed it from Milford to Green Hill, owing to the town's Green Hill Seminary which the United Brethren established there. An 1883 history of the area cited Green Hill's populat ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |