Mike Smith

Astronaut

Birthday April 30, 1945

Birth Sign Taurus

Birthplace North Carolina

DEATH DATE Jan 28, 1986 (40)

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About

Remembered for piloting the Space Shuttle Challenger during its doomed STS-51-L mission, this NASA astronaut had previously served in the Vietnam War and worked as a United States Navy test pilot.

Before Fame

After graduating from the United States Naval Academy in the late 1960s, he trained as a naval aviator before joining the NASA astronaut program in 1980.

Trivia

He was a posthumous recipient of both the Congressional Space Medal of Honor and the Defense Distinguished Service Medal. During his lifetime, he was awarded the Navy Distinguished Flying Cross and several Air Medals.

Family Life

He was born in Beaufort, North Carolina, and he died in the sky above Cape Canaveral, Florida, at the age of forty.

Associated With

He was portrayed by actor Brian Kerwin in a 1990 television movie about the Challenger disaster.