Fifty-five years ago this May, Francis Gary Powers was piloting a U-2 on a reconnaissance mission for the Central Intelligence Agency when he was shot down over the Soviet Union. This flight was to be the first U-2 flight across the whole of Russia; it turned out to also be the last. Powers was the most experienced U-2 pilot, having flown more flights than anyone else in the program. He was 30 years old.
Powers' final flight was postponed three times due to bad weather. These delays resulted in his original plane being grounded for a maintenance check. Instead, he flew a U-2 with a reputation for malfunctioning. Powers lacked confidence in this particular plane, so when he was offered a poison pin concealed in a silver dollar to take along on his flight, he agreed. He had never accepted the offer before.
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