William R. Pogue

William Pogue was an American astronaut and Air Force pilot, born on 23 January 1930 and died on 3 March 2014. He reached the rank of colonel, flew combat in the Korean War, flew with the USAF Thunderbirds and taught mathematics at the Air Force Academy. He was pilot of Skylab 4, the third and final crewed mission to the Skylab station, in 1973 and 1974, with commander Gerald Carr and science pilot Edward Gibson. The crew spent 84 days in orbit. It was Pogue’s only spaceflight. He later worked as a teacher, public speaker and author.

Born: 23 January 1930
Died: 3 March 2014
Country: United States
Flights: 2: Skylab (1973), Skylab 4 (1973)
Time in space: 84 days 1 hours

Data as of 2 November 2026. Source: Wikidata (CC0). All people who have flown in space.

Events

Skylab
- Apollo spacecraft, Saturn V
Skylab was a Saturn V third stage turned into a house. Sixty-three seconds after liftoff the thin shield that was meant to protect it from meteoroids and sunlight tore away, taking one of its two solar arrays with it.
8 videos
- The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered
- Retro Space HD
- Hubbell Power Systems