Aviation Heritage Park 06-14-2018 34 - NASA Northrop T-33A Talon HDR
NASA Northrop T-38 Talon
Aviation Heritage Park
T-38 #901 – AN AIRCRAFT OF DISTINCTION
There have been two T-38s to carry the NASA identification of tail number 901. The first, S/N 63-8181, was lost in a crash on February 28, 1966, while landing in a fog at Lambert Field in St. Louis, MO. The next to carry that tail designation is the aircraft we will be receiving, S/N 66-8381. This plane was never flown by any of our military services – it went directly from the manufacturer to NASA.
The history of this aircraft is the history of the American manned space flight program. In April of 1959, NASA announced the selection of seven men to compose the first class of American Astronauts. Our first astronauts were Navy Lieutenant M. Scott Carpenter, Air Force Captains L. Gordon Cooper, Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom and Donald K. “Deke” Slayton, Marine Lieutenant Colonel John H. Glenn, Jr., and Lieutenant Commanders Walter M. Schirra, Jr. and Alan B. Shepard, Jr. Every one of these men flew #901.
These were the astronauts who flew the 6 Mercury missions through 1963. The Gemini program consisted of 10 Earth Orbiter missions from 1965 through 1966, involving 16 different astronauts and all of them have flown #901.
The Apollo Program involved 9 lunar orbiting and landing missions and 6 of those missions resulted in a landing on the moon. The Prime Crew members on each of the 9 missions were a Commander, a Command Module Pilot and a Lunar Module Pilot. There were 24 different astronauts composing the Prime Crews for the 9 missions and all of them flew #901. There were 12 persons who walked on the moon during the 6 lunar landings and all of them flew #901.
From
Aviation Heritage Park 06-14-2018 34 - NASA Northrop T-33A Talon HDR
NASA Northrop T-38 Talon
Aviation Heritage Park
T-38 #901 – AN AIRCRAFT OF DISTINCTION
There have been two T-38s to carry the NASA identification of tail number 901. The first, S/N 63-8181, was lost in a crash on February 28, 1966, while landing in a fog at Lambert Field in St. Louis, MO. The next to carry that tail designation is the aircraft we will be receiving, S/N 66-8381. This plane was never flown by any of our military services – it went directly from the manufacturer to NASA.
The history of this aircraft is the history of the American manned space flight program. In April of 1959, NASA announced the selection of seven men to compose the first class of American Astronauts. Our first astronauts were Navy Lieutenant M. Scott Carpenter, Air Force Captains L. Gordon Cooper, Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom and Donald K. “Deke” Slayton, Marine Lieutenant Colonel John H. Glenn, Jr., and Lieutenant Commanders Walter M. Schirra, Jr. and Alan B. Shepard, Jr. Every one of these men flew #901.
These were the astronauts who flew the 6 Mercury missions through 1963. The Gemini program consisted of 10 Earth Orbiter missions from 1965 through 1966, involving 16 different astronauts and all of them have flown #901.
The Apollo Program involved 9 lunar orbiting and landing missions and 6 of those missions resulted in a landing on the moon. The Prime Crew members on each of the 9 missions were a Commander, a Command Module Pilot and a Lunar Module Pilot. There were 24 different astronauts composing the Prime Crews for the 9 missions and all of them flew #901. There were 12 persons who walked on the moon during the 6 lunar landings and all of them flew #901.
From