Description:
(NASA Astronaut and the Pilot of the Ill-Fated Space Shuttle Columbia Mission) American naval officer, aviator, and aeronautical engineer William C. McCool was a prominent NASA astronaut who served the STS-107 Space Shuttle Columbia mission as its pilot. He, along with the rest of crew, died when Columbia disintegrated while re-entering the atmosphere. He won many posthumous honors, such as the NASA Space Flight Medal.