Keith’s note: NASA Watch readers have reported that Caldwell Johnson died on 27 May.
Caldwell Johnson, NNDB: “Caldwell Johnson grew up within walking distance of Langley Field, then a landing strip for exotic and experimental aircraft, operated by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. He often loitered at the facility, and after showing some staff members his elaborately constructed model aircraft, he was hired straight out of high school by NACA’s Robert R. Gilruth.”
“After NACA evolved into NASA, Johnson worked for decades with NASA engineer Max Faget, helping to design the earliest experimental spacecraft, addressing issues such as bodily restraint and mobility, personal hygiene, spacecraft weight limits, and supplying and consuming food and water, based at least in the early years only on guesses about the characteristics of space.”
