William Cameron "Willie" McCool
Posted by: 
SwEagle
N 33° 31.093 W 101° 53.957
14S E 230710 N 3712503
Quick Description: Memorial statue of Astronaut William "Willie" McCool. Located in Huneke Park.
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 9/10/2009 1:04:58 PM
Waymark Code: WM76RH
Views: 0
Long Description:William Cameron "Willie" McCool was a United States Navy Commander,
NASA astronaut and the Space Shuttle pilot of Columbia mission
STS-107. He was killed when the craft disintegrated during re-entry
into the Earth's atmosphere.
McCool was born 23 September 1961 in San Diego, California, and
died on 1 February 2003 over the southern United States when Space
Shuttle Columbia broke up during entry, 16 minutes prior to
scheduled landing. He is survived by his wife and children. He
enjoyed running, mountain biking, back country hiking/camping,
swimming, playing guitar, and chess. His favorite song was
"Imagine" by John Lennon which was played during the space mission.
His favorite band was Radiohead, and the song "Fake Plastic Trees"
was played by mission control as a wake-up call. McCool is buried
at the United States Naval Academy Cemetery. 1979: Graduated from
Coronado High School, Lubbock, Texas McCool accumulated over 2,800
hours flight experience in 24 aircraft and over 400 carrier
arrestments.
Selected by NASA in April 1996, McCool reported to the Johnson
Space Center in August 1996. He completed two years of training and
evaluation, and was qualified for flight assignment as a pilot.
Initially assigned to the Computer Support Branch, McCool also
served as Technical Assistant to the Director of Flight Crew
Operations, and worked Shuttle cockpit upgrade issues for the
Astronaut Office. He was the pilot on STS-107, logging 15 days, 22
hours and 20 minutes in space.
Wikipedia