Bill Pogue | |
|---|---|
 Pogue in August 1975 | |
| Born | William Reid Pogue (1930-01-23)January 23, 1930 |
| Died | March 3, 2014(2014-03-03) (aged 84) Cocoa Beach, Florida, U.S. |
| Education | |
| Awards | NASA Distinguished Service Medal Air Medal |
| Space career | |
| NASA astronaut | |
| Rank | Colonel,USAF |
Time in space | 84d 1h 15m |
| Selection | NASA Group 5 (1966) |
TotalEVAs | 2 |
Total EVA time | 13h 34m |
| Missions | Skylab 4 |
Mission insignia |  |
| Retirement | September 1, 1975 |
| Signature | |
 | |
William Reid "Bill" Pogue (January 23, 1930 – March 3, 2014) was an Americanastronaut andpilot who served in theUnited States Air Force (USAF) as afighter pilot andtest pilot, and reached the rank ofcolonel. He was also ateacher,public speaker andauthor.
Born and educated inOklahoma, Pogue graduated fromOklahoma Baptist University with aBachelor of Science degree inEducation and enlisted in the USAF in 1951 and served for 24 years. He flewcombat during theKorean War and with theUSAF Thunderbirds, then served as aflight instructor. Following graduation fromOklahoma State University with aMaster of Science degree in 1960, he served asmathematics professor at theUnited States Air Force Academy, and after training at theEmpire Test Pilots' School, he was atest pilot whose service included a two-years exchange with theRoyal Air Force (RAF).
During his service as a flight instructor, Pogue was accepted as a trainee astronaut forNASA in 1966. His NASA career included one orbital mission as pilot ofSkylab 4, whose crew conducted dozens of in-orbit research experiments and set a duration record of 84 days—the longest crewed flight—that was unbroken in NASA for over 20 years. The mission also had a dispute withground control over schedule management that news media namedThe Skylab Mutiny. Pogue retired from the USAF and NASA a few months after he returned from Skylab, after which he taught and wrote aboutaviation andaeronautics in the U.S. and abroad. Pogue died in 2014, aged 84.
William Pogue was born on January 23, 1930, inOkemah, Oklahoma, to Alex Wallis Pogue (1904–1998) and Margaret Frances Pogue (née McDow; 1906–1994) and he self-identifies as being ofChoctaw descent.[1] William had four siblings; two sisters and two brothers.[2][3] Pogue attended Lake Elementary School andSand Springs High School (now Charles Page High School) inSand Springs, Oklahoma, completing his high-school education in 1947.[4][5] He participated in theBoy Scouts of America, earning the rank ofSecond Class.[6] Pogue attendedOklahoma Baptist University inShawnee, Oklahoma, graduating with aBachelor of Science degree inEducation in 1951. In 1960, he graduated fromOklahoma State University inStillwater, Oklahoma, with aMaster of Science degree inMathematics.[7]
Pogue was attracted to flying from an early age; he first flew an airplane while in high school.[8] Pogue enlisted in theUnited States Air Force (USAF) in 1951, underwent theaviation cadet training program in 1952.[9] He was later commissioned into the USAF as asecond lieutenant.[10] While serving with theFifth Air Force[11] from 1953 to 1954 during theKorean War, he flew 43combat missions infighter bombers while completing a tour of duty.[12] From 1955 to 1957, Pogue was a member of theUSAF Thunderbirds as an aerobatics pilot.[13]
Pogue piloted more than 50 types and models of American and British aircraft, and was qualified as a civilian flight instructor. Pogue served in the mathematics department as an assistant professor at theUnited States Air Force Academy inColorado Springs, Colorado, from 1960 to 1963.[14] He applied to become an astronaut in 1962, but was rejected due to a lack of pilot experience.[12] In September 1965, Pogue completed a two-year tour as test pilot with the BritishMinistry of Aviation under an exchange program between the USAF andRoyal Air Force and graduated from theEmpire Test Pilots' School inFarnborough, England.[12] He was anAir Force major at the time, and went to theManned Spacecraft Center inHouston, Texas,[15] from an assignment atEdwards Air Force Base,California, where he had been an instructor at theU.S. Air Force Aerospace Research Pilot School since October 1965.[12]
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In April 1966, Pogue was one of 19 astronauts selected by NASA inGroup 5 of theApollo program.[16] He served as a member of the support crews for theApollo 7,[17]Apollo 11,[18]13[a][23] andApollo 14 missions. He replacedEd Givens, who died in a car accident, asCapsule Communicator for Apollo 7.[24] No crew members were assigned to thecanceled Apollo missions but if normal crew rotation had been followed, Pogue would have been assigned ascommand module pilot for theApollo 19 mission.[25]
Pogue was the pilot ofSkylab 4, the third and final crewed visit to theSkylab Orbital Workshop, from November 16, 1973, to February 8, 1974.[26] At 84 days, 1 hour and 15 minutes, it was the longest crewed flight to that date.[26][27] It held the record for the longest spaceflight until 1978, when the crew of Soviet shipSalyut 6 spent 140 days at the space station.[10] Pogue was accompanied on the 34.5 million miles (55.5×10^6 km) flight by CommanderGerald Carr and science pilotEdward Gibson.[28] As a crew, they completed 56 experiments, 26 science demonstrations, 15 subsystem detailed objectives, and 13 student investigations across 1,214 revolutions of the Earth.[29]
After around six weeks of flight, there were disagreements between crew and ground control.[10] On December 28, 1973, radio transmission was turned off with the crew spending the time relaxing and gazing at the Earth from orbit.[10] The incident was later referred to as theSkylab mutiny.[30] Pogue later commented that the team was “studying the Sun, the Earth below, and ourselves.”[10] Once radio transmission had resumed, an agreement for the flight to continue; with tensions being significantly diminished.[10] Pogue commented in 1985 that the flight had made him more empathetic, saying “I try to put myself into the human situation, instead of trying to operate like a machine.”[10]
The crew also acquired extensive Earth resources observations data using Skylab's Earth resources experiment package camera and sensor array, and logged 338 hours of operations of theApollo Telescope Mount that made extensive observations of the sun's processes.[31] Pogue and Carr viewed a comet transiting the sky during anextravehicular activity (EVA).[31] He logged 13 hours and 34 minutes in two EVAs outside the orbital workshop.[32][33] On September 1, 1975, Pogue retired from the USAF, as acolonel, and NASA,[34] to become vice president ofHigh Flight Foundation.[35] Pogue logged 7,200 hours of flight time, including 4,200 hours in jet aircraft and 2,000 hours in space flight during his career.[36]
After he retired from NASA, William Pogue was self-employed as an aerospace consultant and a producer of general-interest videos about space flight.[36] In 1985, Pogue wrote a book calledHow Do You Go to the Bathroom in Space?, answering 187 common questions he received about spaceflight.[37] In 1992, he co-wroteThe Trikon Deception, a science-fiction novel, withBen Bova.[1] He also became a consultant for aircraft manufacturers includingBoeing andMartin Marietta, helping to create space station technology.[10] Pogue continuously presented lectures over a 40-year career, working at more than 500 schools and 100 civic clubs.[38]
William Pogue married three times; his first marriage was in 1952 to Helen Juanita Dittmar, with whom he had three children.[12][10] The couple later divorced. He married Jean Ann Baird in 1979 and the marriage lasted until Baird's death in 2009.[39] Pogue's last marriage was to Tina, whom he wed in 2012.[40]
During the night of March 3, 2014, at the age of 84, Pogue died fromnatural causes at his home inCocoa Beach, Florida.[41][4][42] His ashes were sent into Earth orbit usingCelestis, a memorial rocket service launch on aFalcon Heavy rocket on June 25, 2019.[40][43] A plaque commemorating his life was erected atSand Springs, Oklahoma.[44]
The 6139-6005 model Seiko watch which Pogue took on his Skylab mission as his personal watch is known to watch collectors as the "Pogue". It is of interest to collectors because it is the first automatic chronograph in space and unusual because NASA astronauts generally wore their NASA-issued Omega Speedmaster.[45]
Pogue and his crew members received many awards. Pogue won the Johnson Space Center Superior Achievement Award in 1970.[36] Three Skylab crews, including Pogue, were awarded the 1973Robert J. Collier Trophy.[46][47] In 1974, PresidentRichard Nixon presented the Skylab 4 crew with theNASA Distinguished Service Medal,[48][49] and theFédération Aéronautique Internationale awarded the crew theDe La Vaulx Medal andVladimir Komarov Diploma that year.[50] Pogue was among nine Skylab astronauts who were presented with the City of Chicago Gold Medal in 1974 after a parade with 150,000 spectators.[51] TheAmerican Astronautical Society's 1975 Flight Achievement Award was awarded to the crew.[7][52]Gerald P. Carr accepted the 1975Dr. Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy from PresidentGerald Ford, which was awarded to the Skylab astronauts,[53] who also won the AIAAHaley Astronautics Award in 1975.[54]
William R. Pogue Municipal Airport[b] inSand Springs, Oklahoma, was named in Pogue's honor in 1974.[55] TheOklahoma Aviation and Space Museum awarded him the Clarence E. Page Memorial Trophy for "making significant and ongoing contributions to the U.S. aviation industry" in February 1989.[56] Page died eight days before the award was presented and Pogue used most of his speech to memorialize Page's life.[56] Pogue was awarded anhonorary doctorate of science fromOklahoma Baptist University in 1974.[57] Pogue received the City of New York gold medal[36] and the GeneralThomas D. White USAF Space Trophy for the same year.[58]
Pogue has been inducted into threehalls of fame. He was inducted into theFive Civilized Tribes Hall of Fame in 1975,[59] and was one of five Oklahoman astronauts inducted into theOklahoma Aviation and Space Hall of Fame in 1980.[60] Pogue was one of 24 Apollo astronauts who were inducted into theU.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1997.[61] As a member of the USAF Thunderbirds, he won theAir Medal,Air Force Commendation Medal, theNational Defense Service Medal, and anAir Force Outstanding Unit Award.[62]
This article incorporatespublic domain material from websites or documents of theNational Aeronautics and Space Administration.
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