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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Sponsor

Honored by:
Walter C. Carrier

Jonathan D. Wells BSME was born September 10th, 1983. Raised in Quartz Hill, California and graduated with a Mechanical Engineering degree from California State University Northridge in 2007. During college he worked at BAE as a contractor for the JSF-CATBIRD test platform. Upon graduation, he spent one year working with cryo-fueled rocket motors for XCOR Aerospace in Mojave, California. In 2008 he started working on the Red Bull Stratos Project, whose primary goal was to enable the first skydiver to break the speed of sound without the use of a vehicle. During the five years of the project he had worked over 17,000 hours ensuring the safety of one skydiver. His Primary title on Stratos was “Capsule Crew Chief”. He was also the longest lasting engineer on the program, having seen many others start and leave the program. On October 14th 2012 - 65 years to the day after the first airplane broke the speed of sound - Stratos opened the world view to the new possibilities of human endurance. The fastest free-fall achieved by the pilot was Mach 1.25 (843.6 mph), after jumping from an altitude of 127,852.4 ft. above sea level. The medical data gathered soon after the jump has made a strong influence in the aerospace physiological community, particularly on treatments provided to pilots, as well as risk mitigation. His dedication to this project goes back to his ancestors, particularly from his mother’s side of the family. The symbol for the family crest is a dragon over a crown, standing for the guardian of the king. This is in his design theory of “To never place a person into a situation, that you yourself would not offer to be.” Jon’s career has been made possible by love and support from his family and friends.