On September 13, 1985, U.S. Air Force pilot, Major Wilbert “Doug” Pearson, shot down a satellite while piloting an F-15A Eagle fighter aircraft. He became the first pilot ever to do so.

Pearson’s mission, dubbed the “Celestial Eagle Flight”, took place over the Pacific Ocean. He flew his F-15A Eagle to a height of 38,100 feet and launched an ASM-135 ASAT anti-satellite missile at a defunct orbiting satellite. The satellite that was targeted was the Solwind P78-1, a solar laboratory which had been launched in 1979.

Pearson put the aircraft in a 3.8g, 65-degree climb, and fired at the satellite orbiting 345 miles above the earth. The 2,700 pound, 18-foot long missile flew to the target and then separated, sending a rocket with a miniature homing vehicle on a course to collide with the satellite at 15,000 mph.

The pilot and the airplane parted ways after the historic flight, but 22 years later, Pearson’s son, U.S. Air Force pilot Captain Todd Pearson, piloted the same aircraft during a commemorative flight to mark the day when his father became the first pilot to shoot down a satellite. Captain Pearson even wore the same patch on his left shoulder that his father had 22 years before.

Sources: Air & Space Magazine, Live Science, Air Force

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