James W. Wood

Who was James W. Wood?

James Wayne Wood was an American astronaut in the X-20 Dyna-Soar program.

He was born in Paragould, Arkansas on August 9, 1924.

Wood earned a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology in 1956. He was serving as an experimental test pilot at the Air Force Flight Test Center, Edwards AFB, California when selected for the X-20 Dyna-Soar program. Wood was the senior test pilot on the Dyna-Soar project and was slated to be the pilot on its first sub-orbital mission. If the program had not been cancelled, the first drop test would have been in July, 1964. After the Dyna-Soar program was cancelled on December 10th,1963, he remained with the U.S. Air Force and served as Commander of Test Operations at Edwards Air Force Base. He retired from the U.S. Air Force with the rank of colonel. He was married and had three children. He died on January 1, 1990 of natural causes.