Personal: Male. Born in Buffalo, Kansas, USA. Killed in explosion of X-2 number 1.

Astronaut Career

Astronaut Group: Test Pilot (USAF). Deceased

Milburn G. Apt was a 1942 graduate of Buffalo High School, Buffalo, Kansas. Apt was fatally injured on September 27, 1956 in air catastrophe with X-2 # 1. Date of birth unknown.

27 September 1956 - X-2 Flight 17. After having been launched from a B-50 bomber over the Mojave Desert in California, Capt. Milburn G. Apt (USAF), flying an X-2 rocket-powered plane on its 13th powered flight, set a record speed of 3,377 kph, or Mach 3.196 at 19,977 m. Subsequent loss of control from inertial coupling led to the destruction of the aircraft and the death of the pilot.