NASA’s First Space Shuttle Astronaut Selection Redefining the Right Stuff David J. Shayler and Colin Burgess NASA's First Space Shuttle Astronaut Selection Redefining the Right Stuff David J. Shayler Colin Burgess Astronautical Historian Spaceflight Historian Astro Info Service Ltd Bangor, New South Wales, Australia Halesowen, West Midlands, UK SPRINGER-PRAXIS BOOKS IN SPACE EXPLORATION Springer Praxis Books Space Exploration ISBN 978-3-030-45741-9 ISBN 978-3-030-45742-6 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45742-6 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Project Editor: Michael D. Shayler Cover design: Jim Wilkie CAPTIONS FOR COVER IMAGES: Front: A stunning bird’s-eye view of the Space Shuttle Atlantis, with its External Tank and twin Solid Rocket Boosters, during its rollout to Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, as STS-79 on August 20, 1996. During this mission, John Blaha traded places with TFNG Shannon Lucid at the end of her six-month tour on the Russian Mir space station. Back, top left: The crew of STS-7 on the flight deck ofChallenger , June 1983. Under the command of Robert ‘Crip’ Crippen [rear left], the first four members of the TFNG to fly on the Space Shuttle were [l to r] Mission Specialist Sally Ride, the first American woman to fly in space, Pilot Rick Hauck, and Mission Specialists Norman Thagard and John Fabian. Back, top right: Sixteen years later, in July 1999, Mission Specialist Steve Hawley − seen here on the middeck of Columbia during his fifth mission, STS-93 – became the last member of the Class of 1978 to fly in space, ending an era of over 100 missions in Earth orbit. Back, lower right: The official emblem for the Class of 1978, designed by Robert McCall. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland Contents Authors’ Preface ................................................... x Acknowledgements ................................................. xv Foreword ......................................................... xviii Dedication ......................................................... xxii List of Abbreviations and acronyms ................................... xxiii Prologue .......................................................... xxviii 1 Expanding on ‘The Right Stuff’ ................................... 1 Pioneering the selection of Shuttle astronauts .......................... 2 Meeting the astronaut criteria ...................................... 6 Preparing to test the applicants ..................................... 12 An applicant reflects ............................................. 16 Other candidate voices............................................ 19 The Thirty-Five New Guys (TFNG) ................................. 31 2 Who should fly? . 39 The evolution of a Shuttle crew ..................................... 40 Pioneering Space Shuttle astronaut assignments (1969−1980s) ............ 73 3 The new Pilot astronauts......................................... 81 Daniel C. Brandenstein ........................................... 81 Michael L. Coats ................................................ 82 Richard O. Covey................................................ 84 John O. Creighton ............................................... 85 Robert L. Gibson ................................................ 85 Frederick D. Gregory............................................. 86 S. David Griggs ................................................. 88 Frederick H. Hauck .............................................. 89 Jon A. McBride ................................................. 90 v vi Contents Steven R. Nagel ................................................. 91 Francis R. Scobee................................................ 92 Brewster H. Shaw ............................................... 94 Loren J. Shriver ................................................. 95 David M. Walker ................................................ 95 Donald E. Williams .............................................. 96 Some notable but unsuccessful Pilot applicants ........................ 97 4 The first Mission Specialists ...................................... 101 Guion S. Bluford, Jr. ............................................. 101 James F. Buchli ................................................. 102 John M. Fabian.................................................. 104 Anna L. Fisher .................................................. 105 Dale A. Gardner ................................................. 106 Terry J. Hart .................................................... 107 Steven A. Hawley................................................ 108 Jeffrey A. Hoffman............................................... 108 Shannon M. W. Lucid ............................................ 109 Ronald E. McNair ............................................... 111 Richard M. Mullane.............................................. 112 George D. Nelson................................................ 113 Ellison S. Onizuka ............................................... 114 Judith A. Resnik................................................. 115 Sally K. Ride ................................................... 116 M. Rhea Seddon................................................. 117 Robert L. Stewart ................................................ 118 Kathryn D. Sullivan .............................................. 119 Norman E. Thagard .............................................. 120 James D. A. van Hoften ........................................... 121 Some who narrowly missed selection ................................ 122 5 All Change in the Astronaut Office ................................ 127 Introducing the Thirty-Five New Guys ............................... 128 Walking in hallowed halls ......................................... 140 The Astronaut Office evolves....................................... 145 Broadening the opportunities....................................... 156 The other ‘odd critters’ ........................................... 157 Space Shuttle taxi drivers.......................................... 159 Office regeneration - again......................................... 160 6 Ascan pioneers ................................................. 162 Why an Ascan? ................................................. 162 Schooling the Ascans ............................................. 166 Now for the real work ............................................ 189 The long wait ................................................... 190 Contents vii 7 Silver Pin astronauts ............................................ 194 Technical and support assignments .................................. 195 Astronaut support roles explained ................................... 200 Launch support roles (KSC Florida) ................................. 201 Mission support roles (JSC Houston) ................................ 210 Management support roles......................................... 227 Ready to earn their Astronaut Wings ................................. 228 8 Preparing to fly................................................. 229 A new training protocol ........................................... 230 Space Shuttle crewing nomenclature ................................. 232 The astronaut roles on a Shuttle crew ................................ 234 Training the Shuttle astronauts ..................................... 243 November 1980 training status ..................................... 243 Flight crew tasks circa 1980........................................ 248 Flight Data File ................................................. 250 Crew responsibilities ............................................. 250 The Training Division (1986) ...................................... 251 Planning a training cycle (circa 1986) ................................ 254 Shuttle crew training cycle......................................... 258 Space Shuttle flight crew training facilities ............................ 260 Other NASA locations ............................................ 271 Department Of Defense (DOD)..................................... 273 Foreign lands ................................................... 275