The Onizuka Prop Wash Award recognizes the student at the United States Air Force Test Pilot School who contributed most to class spirit and morale. The honoree from each class is selected by his or her fellow students rather than by school faculty. The award is named in memory of TPS graduate Ellison Onizuka who perished in the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986.
Ted F. Bowlds, Class 80A
James E. Brown III, Class 86A
Jack D. Fischer, Class 03B
Victor J. Glover, Class 06B
Ellison Shoji Onizuka was an American astronaut, engineer, and U.S. Air Force flight test engineer from Kealakekua, Hawaii, who successfully flew into space with the Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-51-C. He died in the destruction of the Space Shuttle Challenger, on which he was serving as Mission Specialist for mission STS-51-L. Onizuka was the first Asian American and the first person of Japanese origin to reach space.
Onizuka, c. 1980
The STS-51L Crew
Gravesite of Onizuka
Downtown Los Angeles as seen from the corner of Ellison S. Onizuka St., San Pedro St. and 2nd St. in Little Tokyo