Milton Orville Thompson

Test pilot

Milton Orville Thompson (May 4, 1926 – August 6, 1993), (Lt Cmdr, USNR), better known as Milt Thompson, was an American naval officer, aviator, engineer, and NASA research pilot.

He was one of twelve pilots who flew the North American X-15, an experimental spaceplane jointly operated by the United States Air Force and NASA.

He was also selected for participation in the X-20 Dyna-Soar program.Following his involvement with the X-15 program, Thompson became Chief Engineer and Director of Research Projects at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center.