Theodore von Kármán (1881–1963) was a Hungarian-American mathematician, aerospace engineer and physicist who worked in aeronautics and astronautics. He was responsible for crucial advances in aerodynamics characterizing supersonic airflow. The human-defined threshold of outer space is named the Kármán line in recognition of his work. This 1959 photograph shows von Kármán (left) joined by United States Air Force and NASA officials while inspecting two missile models used in the high-velocity, high-altitude wind tunnels at Arnold Air Force Base. The missiles shown are the AGARD-B and the AtlasSeries-B.
