Gen. C. Robert Kehler, Air Force Space Command commander, inducted the command’s 2009 Space and Missile Pioneers during an official ceremony today at 10 a.m., at the AFSPC Headquarters Building here.
This year’s inductees are retired Dr. Benjamin P. Blasingame, retired Col. Vernon L. Hastings, Dr. F. Robert Naka, retired Col. Bradford W. Parkinson, and Mr. Roger L. Easton (who will not be in attendance).
Dr. Blasingame was a pioneer in the development of the Air Force’s early Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Systems. He won approval for using inertial guidance as a backup for radio guidance on the Atlas ICBM and as the primary guidance system on the THOR Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile. He left the Air Force ballistic missile division for an assignment at the newly constructed U. S. Air Force Academy, where he created the department of aeronautics and astronautics.
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