William Cameron "Willie" McCool (born William Cameron Graham September 23, 1961 – February 1, 2003) was an American naval officer and aviator, test pilot, aeronautical engineer, and NASA astronaut, who was the pilot of Space Shuttle Columbia mission STS-107. He and the rest of the crew of STS-107 were killed when Columbia disintegrated during reentry into the atmosphere.{{cite web|url=https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/mccool_william.pdf |title=William C. McCool (Commander, USN) NASA Astronaut (Deceased) |date=May 2004 |access-date=April 14, 2021| publisher=NASA}}. Note: this text, the work of a U.S. Government agency, is a work in the public domain.Kershaw, Sarah. [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/05/us/05shuttle.html Space Shuttle Widow Is Ready to Move on From Rituals of Loss], New York Times, December 5, 2007. Retrieved August 15, 2010. McCool was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.{{cite web|title=Congressional Space Medal of Honor|url=https://history.nasa.gov/spacemedal.htm|access-date=November 25, 2022|publisher=NASA}}

Early and personal life

McCool was born on September 23, 1961, in San Diego, California.{{Cite news |last=Wright |first=Pearce |date=2003-02-03 |title=The Columbia astronauts |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/feb/03/guardianobituaries.spaceexploration |access-date=2025-01-08 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite web |author=Staff Writer |date=February 2, 2003 |title=Seven heroes of Columbia |url=https://www.capecodtimes.com/story/news/2003/02/02/seven-heroes-columbia/50960186007/ |access-date=2025-01-08 |website=Cape Cod Times |language=en-US}} His parents divorced when McCool was young, and in 1969, his mother married Barent McCool, a Naval aviator. McCool was active in the Boy Scouts of America, where he became an Eagle Scout.[http://www.scouting.org/About/FactSheets/scouting_space.aspx William C. "Willie" McCool at scouting.org] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303213130/http://www.scouting.org/about/factsheets/scouting_space.aspx |date=March 3, 2016 }} His favorite song was "Imagine" by John Lennon, which was played during the STS-107 mission. McCool's favorite band was Radiohead, and the song "Fake Plastic Trees" was played by Mission Control as a wake-up call.{{cite web|title=Chronology of Wakeup Calls|first=Colin|last=Fries|date=March 13, 2015|url=https://history.nasa.gov/wakeup%20calls.pdf|publisher=NASA History Division|access-date=November 25, 2022|archive-date=December 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220093919/https://history.nasa.gov/wakeup%20calls.pdf|url-status=dead}}

McCool died at age 41 on February 1, 2003, when Space Shuttle Columbia broke up over the southern United States during reentry. He was survived by his wife, Lani, and their three sons. McCool is buried in Anacortes, Washington, where he lived at the time of his death.{{cite web|url=https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/McCool-s-excitement-was-infectious-1106630.php|date=February 3, 2003|title=McCool's excitement was infectious / Anacortes mourns shocking loss of generous, inspiring neighbor|publisher=Seattle P-I|access-date=February 19, 2011}}

Education

1976–77: Attended John F. Kennedy High School, Tamuning, GuamBongioanni, Carlos. [https://www.stripes.com/news/guam-remembers-former-resident-columbia-astronaut-mccool-1.1741 Guam remembers former resident, Columbia astronaut McCool], Stars and Stripes, February 7, 2003. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
1979: Graduated from Coronado High School, Lubbock, Texas.
1983: Received a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Science from the United States Naval Academy.
1985: Received a Master of Science degree in Computer Science from the University of Maryland, College Park.
1991: Graduated from United States Naval Test Pilot School, Naval Air Station Patuxent River - Class 101.
1992: Received a Master of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School.

Flight experience

McCool completed flight training and was designated a Naval Aviator in August 1986. He was assigned to Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 129 (VAQ-129) at NAS Whidbey Island, Washington, for initial EA-6B Prowler training. McCool's first operational tour was with Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 133 (VAQ-133), where he made two deployments aboard the aircraft carrier {{USS|Coral Sea|CV-43|6}} to the Mediterranean Sea and received designation as a wing-qualified landing signal officer (LSO). In November 1989, McCool was selected for the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School/Test Pilot School (TPS) Cooperative Education Program.

After graduating from TPS in June 1992, McCool worked as a TA-4J and EA-6B test pilot in Flight Systems Department of Strike Aircraft Test Directorate at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland. He was responsible for the management and conduct of a wide variety of projects, ranging from airframe fatigue life studies to numerous avionics upgrades. However, McCool's primary efforts were dedicated to flight test of the Advanced Capability (ADVCAP) EA-6B. Following his Patuxent River tour, McCool returned to Whidbey Island, and was assigned to Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 132 (VAQ-132) aboard the carrier {{USS|Enterprise|CVN-65|6}}. He served as Administrative and Operations Officer with the squadron through their work-up cycle, receiving notice of his NASA selection while embarked on Enterprise for her final pre-deployment at sea period.

McCool accumulated over 2,800 flight hours in 24 aircraft as well as more than 400 carrier arrestments, also known as "traps".{{cite web|title=William C. McCool, CDR, USN |url=https://usnamemorialhall.org/index.php/WILLIAM_C._MCCOOL,_CDR,_USN#:~:text=McCool%20accumulated%20over%202%2C800%20hours,flight%20assignment%20as%20a%20pilot.|publisher=U.S. Naval Academy Memorial Hall|access-date=November 25, 2022}}

NASA experience

Selected by NASA in April 1996, McCool reported to the Johnson Space Center the following August. 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.

= Spaceflight experience =

McCool was pilot of Space Shuttle mission STS-107, January 16 to February 1, 2003, logging 15 days, 22 hours and 20 minutes in space. The 16-day flight was a dedicated science and research mission. Working 24 hours a day, in two alternating shifts, the crew successfully conducted approximately 80 experiments. According to NASA, McCool said of the unique view he and his crewmates had from Columbia:{{cite news|title=Remembering NASA's Columbia shuttle tragedy|first=Emily |last=McCain|date=February 1, 2019 |url=https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/national/remembering-nasas-columbia-shuttle-tragedy|publisher=ABC Action News Tampa Bay|access-date=November 25, 2022}}{{cite web|url=http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/archives/sts-107/memorial/mccool.html |title=William McCool STS-107 Crew Memorial|date=January 28, 2004|publisher=NASA|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041106134007/http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/archives/sts-107/memorial/mccool.html |archive-date=November 6, 2004 }}

{{blockquote|text=From our orbital vantage point, we observe an earth without borders, full of peace, beauty and magnificence, and we pray that humanity as a whole can imagine a borderless world as we see it and strive to live as one in peace.|author=William Cameron McCool|title=29 January 2003 onboard Columbia}}

STS-107's mission ended abruptly on February 1, 2003, when Columbia disintegrated during re-entry, 16 minutes before scheduled landing. All seven crew members were killed.

McCool was posthumously awarded the NASA Space Flight Medal, the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Distinguished Service Medal (DDSM), and the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

Organizations

U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association

Honors

Eagle Scout{{cite book | last = Townley | first = Alvin | url = http://www.thomasdunnebooks.com/TD_TitleDetail.aspx?ISBN=0312366531 | title = Legacy of Honor: The Values and Influence of America's Eagle Scouts | year = 2007 | publisher = St. Martin's Press | location = New York | pages = 79 | isbn = 978-0-312-36653-7 | access-date = December 29, 2006 | archive-date = December 19, 2006 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061219180428/http://www.thomasdunnebooks.com/TD_TitleDetail.aspx?ISBN=0312366531 | url-status = dead }}
Served as team captain of the U.S. Naval Academy Cross Country team his senior year
Graduated second of 1,083 in the Class of 1983 at the U.S. Naval Academy
Presented "Outstanding Student" and "Best DT-II Thesis" awards as graduate of U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, Class 101
Awarded Navy Commendation Medal (2)
Awarded Navy Achievement Medal (2)
Posthumously promoted to Captain by Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro October 7, 2023{{Cite web |title=SECNAV Del Toro Awards Posthumous Promotion to Cmdr. William C. McCool |url=https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/Press-Releases/display-pressreleases/Article/3551667/secnav-del-toro-awards-posthumous-promotion-to-cmdr-william-c-mccool/ |access-date=2023-10-09 |website=United States Navy |language=en-US}}

File:McCoolSchoolGuam.JPG]]

Asteroid 51829 Williemccool was posthumously named for McCool.{{cite web |title = 51829 Williemccool (2001 OD41)|work= Minor Planet Center |url = https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=51829|access-date = November 25, 2022}}
Lunar crater McCool is named after him.{{cite web | title=Lunar crater McCool | url=https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/14141?__fsk=-239757979 | website = Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature | publisher = IAU | access-date=June 16, 2021}}
McCool Hill in the Columbia Hills on Mars was posthumously named for McCool.{{cite web|title=Spirit Discovers "New" Highest Peak in "Columbia Hills"|url=https://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/mer_feature_20060302.html|date=March 2, 2006|access-date=November 25, 2022|publisher=NASA|archive-date=August 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807143108/https://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/mer_feature_20060302.html|url-status=dead}}
McCool Hall, in the Columbia Village apartments at the Florida Institute of Technology, is named after him.{{cite news|title=Florida Tech to Dedicate Residence Hall Complex in Memory of Columbia|url=https://news.fit.edu/archive/florida-tech-to-dedicate-residence-hall-complex-in-memory-of-columbia/|date=August 8, 2003|access-date=November 25, 2022|publisher=Florida Institute of Technology}}
Guam South Elementary/Middle School, a DoDEA school in Santa Rita, Guam, was renamed CDR William C. McCool Elementary/Middle School on August 29, 2003.{{cite web|title=Public Law 108 - 13 - An act to rename the Guam South Elementary/Middle School of the DoD Domestic Dependents Elementary and Secondary Schools System in honor of Navy Commander William Willie McCool|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/PLAW-108publ13|date=April 22, 2003|publisher=Congressional Record, Vol. 149 (2003)|access-date=November 25, 2022}}
Willie McCool Track and Field at Coronado High School in Lubbock, Texas, was posthumously named for McCool.
Willie McCool Memorial with Bronze Sculpture was dedicated on Saturday, May 7, 2005, at Huneke Park at 82nd and Quaker Avenue in Lubbock, Texas.
Commander William C. McCool Academy, opened in the fall of 2020, is a STEM middle school in Lubbock Texas{{cite web | url=https://www.lubbockisd.org/domain/909 | title=About McCool Academy / About Commander William C. McCool Academy }}{{cite web | url=https://www.lubbockonline.com/story/news/coronavirus/2020/08/17/lubbockrsquos-new-mccool-academy-opens-with-first-day-of-school/113824956/ | title=Lubbock's new McCool Academy opens with first day of school }}
The William McCool Science Center, located on the campus of the Frank Lamping Elementary School in Henderson, Nevada, is a facility where elementary students throughout the Clark County School District have an opportunity to learn about space and other fields of science.{{cite web|title=History of the WMSC|url=https://lampingelementary.com/wmsc-history-of-the-wmsc|publisher=Lamping Elementary School|access-date=November 25, 2022}}
A Gawad Kalinga village in Moncada, Tarlac, Philippines, will be named "USN Commander Willie McCool GK Village".{{cite news|title=GK village named after US astronaut|first=Patricia|last=Esteves|date=April 29, 2007|url=https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2007/04/29/396573/gk-village-named-after-us-astronaut|access-date=November 25, 2022|publisher=Philippine Star}}
In the Star Trek book Mirror Universe – Glass Empires, the shuttlecraft of the U.S.S. Defiant in the short story "Age of the Empress" is named the McCool.
McCool Track at the Naval Academy Preparatory School, Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island is named after him.
The spacefaring game Elite: Dangerous contains a starport in the Jaroua system named "McCool City".
The Willie McCool Monument was dedicated on December 2, 2007, at the U.S. Naval Academy Golf Course. The monument stands where Willie would have been 16 minutes from the finish line during his fastest race on Navy's home course.
The Willie McCool Memorial Model Air Field park located in North Las Vegas, Nevada was posthumously named for McCool on October 23, 2004.{{cite news|title=North Las Vegas airfield gathering place for remote-controlled plane enthusiasts|first=Sandy |last=Lopez View

|url=https://www.reviewjournal.com/uncategorized/north-las-vegas-airfield-gathering-place-for-remote-controlled-plane-enthusiasts/ |date=February 5, 2016|access-date=November 25, 2022|publisher=Las Vegas Review-Journal}}

McCool Hall, located on Tinker AFB, Oklahoma is a Navy Bachelors Enlisted Quarters named after McCool.{{cite report|title=Space Shuttle Columbia Memorial Special Resource Study|url=http://npshistory.com/publications/srs/spsh-srs.pdf

|date=October 2014|access-date=November 25, 2022|publisher=National Park Service}}

Camp McCool, located in Bagram Airfield, was the home of rotating EA-6B Prowler Squadrons supporting ISAF in Afghanistan.{{cite web|title=Camp McCool's brief impact|date= August 23, 2012|first=TSgt Shawn David |last=McCowan|url=https://www.afcent.af.mil/Units/455th-Air-Expeditionary-Wing/News/Display/Article/273979/camp-mccools-brief-impact/|access-date=November 25, 2022|publisher=U.S. Air Force}}
The FAA named a Fix/Waypoint MCCUL near Naval Air Station Whidbey Island (also near Anacortes, WA) located at 48 13.11N, 123 07.03W. Navy pilots are routinely vectored to the McCool waypoint.
The McCool Breakthrough Award is named after Willie McCool and is given to an individual who has made a significant breakthrough in the spirit of ICHRIE's mission.{{cite web |url=http://www.chrie.org/about/awards/index.aspx?wp1813936608-slide=6 |title=The International Council on Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Education: About » Awards |access-date=February 9, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209222832/http://www.chrie.org/about/awards/index.aspx?wp1813936608-slide=6 |archive-date=February 9, 2015 }}
The Commander William C. McCool Academy is Lubbock ISD’s newest magnet middle school.{{cite news|title=Lubbock ISD Board names new magnet school after Willie McCool|url=https://www.lubbockonline.com/story/news/2019/12/12/lubbock-isd-board-names-new-magnet-school-after-willie-mccool/2094990007/|first=Matt |last=Dotray|date=December 12, 2019|access-date=November 25, 2022|publisher=Lubbock Avalanche-Journal}}

References

External links

{{IMDb name|4120309}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20020305052948/http://www.astronautix.com/astros/mccool.htm Astronautix biography of William C. McCool]
[http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/astronauts/english/mccool_william.htm Spacefacts biography of William C. McCool]
[https://www.amfcse.org/william-c-mccool-1 William C. McCool at Astronauts Memorial page]

Category:1961 births

Category:2003 deaths

Category:Space Shuttle Columbia disaster

Category:Accidental deaths in Texas

Category:American aerospace engineers

Category:American test pilots

Category:Aviators from California

Category:Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States

Category:Burials at the United States Naval Academy Cemetery

Category:Coronado High School (Lubbock, Texas) alumni

Category:Military personnel from California

Category:Military personnel from San Diego