A Tribute to the American Astronauts Buried at Arlington National Cemetery
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Robert Franklin Overmyer, a Colonel in the United States Marine Corps (retired), was born on July 14, 1936 in Loraine, Ohio, and considered Westlake, Ohio his hometown. His hobbies included skiing, water skiing, boating, acrobatic flying in open cockpit biplanes, coaching baseball, and running. He was a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, Experimental Aircraft Association, and Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.

Overmyer died on March 22, 1996 in Duluth, Minnesota in the crash of an experimental civilian light aircraft he was test piloting for Cirrus Design Corporation. (Cirrus VK30 experimental N44VK)

NASA Biography

Space Flights:

• Pilot, STS-5, Columbia, November 11-16, 1982, first operational shuttle flight, two satellites deployed
• Commander, STS-51B, Challenger, Spacelab 3, April 29-May 6, 1985

Total Hours in Space: 290+

Astronaut Group: 7-February, 1970 (previously assigned to the US Air Force Manned Orbiting Laboratory program)

Degrees: BS, Physics, Baldwin Wallace College in 1958. MS, Aeronautics with a major in Aeronautical Engineering, U. S. Naval Postgraduate School in 1964; received an Honorary Doctor of Philosophy degree from Baldwin Wallace College, December 1982.

Military Service & Awards: He served in Vietnam. Awarded the USAF Meritorious Service Medal in 1969 for duties with the USAF Manned Orbiting Laboratory Program; awarded the USMC Meritorious Service Medal in 1978 for duties as the Chief Chase Pilot and support crewman for the Shuttle Approach and Landing Test Program, awarded the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School Distinguished Engineers Award, January 1983; the USMC Distinguished Flying Cross (1983); and the NASA Space Flight Medal (1983).

Section: 23
Grave: 22469 front
Grid: M-23