James Wayne Wood was an astronaut in the X-20 Dyna-Soar program. He was born in Paragould, Arkansas on August 9, 1924. He was married and had three children. He died on January 1, 1990 of natural causes.

Colonel Wood earned a Bachelor of science degree in aeronautical engineering from the Air Force Institue of Technology in 1956. He was serving as an experimental test pilot at the Air Force Flight Test Center, Edwards AFB, California when selected for the X-20 Dyna-Soar program.

Colonel Wood was slated to be the first astronaut to pilot the Dyna-Soar on its first sub-orbital mission. He was the senior test pilot on the Dyna-Soar project. If the program had not been cancelled, the first flight would have taken place in July, 1966.

After the Dyna-Soar program was cancelled in December 1963, he remained with the U.S. Air Force and served as Commander of Test Operations at Edwards Air Force Base. He retired from the U.S. Air Force with the rank of Colonel.