Russell L. Rogers

Who was Russell L. Rogers?

Russell Lee Rogers was an astronaut assigned to the X-20 Dyna-Soar program. He was born on April 12, 1928 in Lawrence, Kansas. He was married with five children. Rogers was killed when the engine of his F-105 fighter plane failed near Kadena AB, Okinawa, Japan on September 13, 1967. He ejected from his aircraft, but his parachute failed to deploy properly.

Rogers was an experimental test pilot at Edwards AFB when selected for the X-20 program in April, 1960. He left the program on December 10, 1963 when it was cancelled.

He received a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Colorado in 1958. After the X-20 program, he remained in the U.S. Air Force on active flight duty as a pilot with the rank of Lt. Colonel at the time of his death.