Edward C. Aldridge Jr.

Edward "Pete" Cleveland Aldridge Jr. (born August 18, 1938) is an aerospace engineer and former government official in the U.S. Defense Department. He was also selected as a payload specialist for the Space Shuttle mission STS-62-A, scheduled to launch in July 1986. The mission was canceled after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in January 1986, and Aldridge never flew. At the Department of Defense in the 1980s, Aldridge served as the Under Secretary of the Air Force from 1981 to 1986, Director of the National Reconnaissance Office 1981–1988, and the Secretary of the Air Force from 1986 to 1988. Under President George W. Bush, he was the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics from 2001 to 2003. From 1989 to 1992 he was president of the Electronic Systems Company division of McDonnell Douglas, and later, CEO of The Aerospace Corporation. Edward Cleveland Aldridge Jr. was born in Houston, Texas, the son of Lillie Idell (Née Radford) and Edward Cleveland Aldridge. Aldridge received a Bachelor of Science in aeronautical engineering from Texas A&M University in 1960 and a Master of Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Aldridge played a key role in the late stages of the U.S.'s Cold War with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) by ensuring continued U.S. military access to space. From 1981 to 1988, he served as Director of the National Reconnaissance Office—the U.S. Government agency in charge of designing, building, launching, and maintaining America’s intelligence satellites. Uncomfortable with the U.S.'s sole dependence during that time on the Space Shuttle for launch of heavy systems, he initiated a second launcher, the Titan IV, from Martin Marietta with an order for 10 vehicles in 1985. When the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded during its launch the following year, the U.S. military was able to continue its assured access to space despite the Space Shuttle's two year grounding. Aldridge was confirmed as the Pentagon's top weapons buyer on May 8, 2001.