Guion Stewart Bluford Jr. is an American aerospace engineer, retired United States Air Force (USAF) officer and fighter pilot, and former NASA astronaut, in which capacity he became the first African American to go to space. While assigned to NASA, he remained a USAF officer rising to the rank of colonel. He participated in four Space Shuttle flights between 1983 and 1992. In 1983, as a member of the crew of the Orbiter Challenger on the mission STS-8, he became the first African American in space as well as the second black person in space, after Cuban cosmonaut Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez.
John Bennett Herrington is a retired United States Naval Aviator, engineer and former NASA astronaut. In 2002, Herrington became the first enrolled citizen of a Native American tribe to fly in space.
David Cornell Leestma is a former American astronaut and retired Captain in the United States Navy.
Robert Lee "Hoot" Gibson, , is a former American naval officer and aviator, test pilot, and aeronautical engineer. A retired NASA astronaut, he also served as Chief of the Astronaut Office from 1992 to 1994. Today Gibson is active as a professional pilot, racing regularly at the annual Reno Air Races. He was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in 2003 and the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2013, and has received several military decorations throughout his career.
Frederick Drew Gregory is a former United States Air Force pilot, military engineer, test pilot, and NASA astronaut as well as former NASA Deputy Administrator. He also served briefly as NASA Acting Administrator in early 2005, covering the period between the departure of Sean O'Keefe and the swearing in of Michael D. Griffin.
Jerome F. Lederer was an American aviation-safety pioneer, known as "Mr. Aviation Safety."
Williams International is an American manufacturer of small gas turbine engines based in Pontiac, Michigan, United States. It produces jet engines for cruise missiles and small jet aircraft.
Paul Howard Poberezny was an American aviator, entrepreneur, and aircraft designer. He founded the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) in 1953, and spent the greater part of his life promoting homebuilt aircraft.
The National Aeronautic Association (NAA) is a federally recognized 501c3 whose mission is to advance and oversee the advancement of the art, sport, and science of aviation and space flight. The NAA achieves this by fostering opportunities to participate fully in aviation activities and promoting public understanding of the importance of aviation and space flight in the United States.
The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) is a professional association and lobbying group for private business aviation.
Elrey Borge Jeppesen was an American aviation pioneer noted for his contributions in the field of air navigation. He worked as a pilot and began making detailed notes about his routes at a time when aviators had to rely on little more than automobile road maps and landmarks for navigation. He created manuals and charts that enabled pilots to fly much more safely. Finding a demand existed for his work, he founded the Jeppesen company in 1934 to sell what he had developed.
The Aerospace Medical Association (AsMA) is the largest professional organization in the fields of aviation, space, and environmental medicine. The AsMA membership includes aerospace and hyperbaric medical specialists, scientists, flight nurses, physiologists, and researchers from all over the world.
Air ambulances in the United States are operated by a variety of hospitals, local government agencies, and for-profit companies. Medical evacuations by air are also performed by the United States Armed Forces and United States National Guard.
John Arthur Macready was an American test pilot and aviator. He is the only three-time recipient of the Mackay Trophy, and they were awarded in three consecutive years: once for altitude flight, once for transcontinental flight, and once for an endurance flight of 36 hours, 4 minutes and 32 seconds.
James David Raisbeck was an American aeronautical engineer, known for his entrepreneurship in developing products which enhance the performance of production aircraft.
Josef F. Schmid is a German-American physician, NASA flight surgeon and a major general in the United States Air Force Reserves. He served as an aquanaut on the joint NASA-NOAA NEEMO 12 underwater exploration mission in May 2007. On 8 October 2021 he became one of the first humans to be Holoported off the planet and into space, visiting the International Space Station by telepresence.
Air medical services are the use of aircraft, including both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters to provide various kinds of urgent medical care, especially prehospital, emergency and critical care to patients during aeromedical evacuation and rescue operations.
Russell W. Meyer Jr. is the chairman emeritus and former chief executive officer (CEO) of the Cessna Aircraft Company. He was awarded the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy, the Collier Trophy on two separate occasions, and the Meritorious Service Award from the National Business Aircraft Association (NBAA). In 2009, he became inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame.
The International Air & Space Hall of Fame is an honor roll of people, groups, organizations, or things that have contributed significantly to the advancement of aerospace flight and technology, sponsored by the San Diego Air & Space Museum. Since its founding in 1963, over 200 individuals have been inducted into the hall, with new additions inaugurated at an annual gala.
