William Cameron "Willie" McCool
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SwEagle
N 33° 31.093 W 101° 53.957
14S E 230710 N 3712503
Memorial statue of Astronaut William "Willie" McCool. Located in Huneke Park.
Waymark Code: WM76RH
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 09/10/2009
Views: 13
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.
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