Veteran, NASA pioneer dies
Patrick McCallister
Staff Writer
Edgar Cortright probably stopped by Earth’s orbit, the moon and Mars before heading onto heaven. He had a few satellites and robotic probes to look at one last time before moving onto eternity.
Cortright died on Sunday, May 4, following a stroke. He was 90. The World War II Navy pilot was in the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik in 1958. The nation quickly geared up for spaceflight after that, and he was put on the task force that formed NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Cortright held numerous jobs in NASA.