About William H. Dana
William Harvey Dana (November 3, 1930 – May 6, 2014) was an American aeronautical engineer, U.S. Air Force pilot, NASA test pilot, and astronaut. He was one of twelve pilots who flew the North American X-15, an experimental spaceplane jointly operated by the Air Force and NASA. He was also selected for participation in the X-20 Dyna-Soar program. On two separate flights, Dana flew the X-15 to an altitude above 50 miles, thereby qualifying as an astronaut according to the United States definition of the boundary of space; however, neither flight exceeded the Kármán line, the internationally accepted boundary of 100 kilometers (62 miles). == Early life and education == Dana was born in Pasadena, California on November 3, 1930. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Military Academy in 1952 and served four years as a pilot in the United States Air Force. He joined NASA on October 1, 1958, after receiving a Master of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Southern California. Dana married his wife Judi in 1962, and they had four children. == Test pilot and astronaut career == From 1960 through 1962 he was a pilot astronaut in the U.S. Air Force X-20 Dyna-Soar program. That program was canceled before the vehicle flew, but Dana later tested several other lifting-body space vehicle projects. He made one of the earliest flights in the plywood M2-F1, and flew the HL-10, the M2-F3, and the X-24B. He made the highest-ever flight in a lifting body, to 90,303 feet, in the HL-10.
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