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Milton Orville Thompson (usually referred to as
Milt Thompson) was a NASA research pilot selected
as an astronaut for the X-20 Dyna-Soar program in
April, 1960. After the Dyna-Soar program was
cancelled on December 10, 1963, he remained a NASA
research pilot and flew the X-15 rocket plane.
Later he became Chief Engineer and Director of
Research Projects during a long career at the NASA
Dryden Flight Research Center. 

Thompson was hired as an engineer at the flight
research facility on March 19, 1956, when it was
still under the auspices of the NACA. He became a
research pilot in January 1958. 

On August 16, 1963 Thompson became the first
person to fly a lifting body, the lightweight NASA
M2-F1. The plywood and steel-tubing prototype was
flown as a glider after releasing from an R4D tow
plane. He flew it a total of 47 times, and also
made the first five flights of the all-metal
Northrop M2-F2 lifting body, beginning July 12,
1966. 

Lifting bodies were wingless vehicles designed to
generate lift and aerodynamic stability from the
shape of their bodies. They were flown at Dryden
to study and validate the concept of safely
maneuvering and landing a low lift-over-drag
vehicle designed for reentry from space. Data from
the program helped in the development of the Space
Shuttles. 

Thompson was also one of the 12 NASA, Air Force,
and Navy pilots to fly the X-15 rocket-powered
research aircraft between 1959 and 1968. He began
flying X-15s on October 29, 1963, only a couple
months after his first Lifting Body flight. He
flew the aircraft 14 times during the following
two years, reaching a maximum speed of 3712 mph
(Mach 5.48) and a peak altitude of 214,100 feet on
separate flights. 

The X-15 program provided a wealth of data on
aerodynamics, thermodynamics, propulsion, flight
controls, and the physiological aspects of
high-speed, high-altitude flight. 

In 1962, Thompson was selected by the Air Force to
be the only civilian test pilot to fly in the X-20
Dyna-Soar program that was intended to launch a
human into Earth orbit and recover with a
horizontal ground landing. The program was
canceled before construction of the vehicle began.


Thompson concluded his active flying career in
1967, becoming Chief of Research Projects two
years later. In 1975 he was appointed Chief
Engineer and retained the position until his death
on August 6, 1993. 

Thompson was also a member of NASA's Space
Transportation System Technology Steering
Committee during the 1970s. In this role he was
successful in leading the effort to design the
Orbiters for power-off landings rather than
increase weight with air-breathing engines for
airliner-type landings. His committee work earned
him NASA's highest award, the Distinguished
Service Medal. 

Born in Crookston, Minnesota, on May 4, 1926,
Thompson began flying with the U.S. Navy as a
pilot trainee at the age of 19. He subsequently
served during World War II with duty in China and
Japan. 

Following six years of active naval service,
Thompson entered the University of Washington, in
Seattle, Washington. He graduated in 1953 with a
Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering. He
remained in the Naval Reserves during college, and
continued flying--not only naval aircraft but crop
dusters and forest-spraying aircraft. 

After college graduation, Thompson became a flight
test engineer for the Boeing Aircraft Company in
Seattle. During his two years at Boeing, he flew
on the sister aircraft of Dryden's B-52
Stratofortress|B-52B air-launch vehicle. 

Thompson was a member of the Society of
Experimental Test Pilots, and received the
organization's Iven C. Kincheloe trophy as the
Outstanding Experimental Test Pilot of 1966 for
his research flights in the M2 lifting bodies. He
also received the 1967 Octave Chanute award from
the American Institute of Aeronautics and
Astronautics for his lifting-body research. 

In 1990, the National Aeronautics Association
selected Thompson as one of the year's recipients
of its Elder Statesman of Aviation awards. The
awards have been presented each year since 1955 to
individuals for contributions "of significant
value over a period of years" in the field of
aeronautics. 

Thompson wrote several technical papers, was a
member of NASA's Senior Executive Service, and
received several NASA awards. 


NASA