But for the seven astronauts it was an important night. The radiant Kinch, the great blond movie-star picture of a pilot, was the most famous of the dead rocket pilots and could have cut his own orders in the Air Force, had he lived. He would have had Bob White’s job as prime pilot of the X–15 and God knows what else. There were aviation awards and aviation awards, but the Kincheloe Award—for “professional performance”—was the big one within the flight test fraternity. The seven men had finally closed the circle and brought together the scattered glories of their celebrity. They had fought for
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