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Where blue skies turn black

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The Last of NASA's Original Pilot Astronauts

Part of the book series: Springer Praxis Books ((SPACEE))

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Abstract

Those eight short words aptly sum up the excitement, relief and satisfaction for an astronaut at finally being able to ply their trade after years of training. As NASA astronauts, the achievements of each of the seventeen remaining members of the NASA Class of ‘66 and the seven former MOL Class of ‘69 are impressive, though the time between selection and flying their first mission into space varied considerably. For Dick Truly, the only member of the first MOL selection of November 1965 to make it into orbit, it was a sixteen year wait before finally leaving the launch pad. His MOL colleagues who had moved across to NASA with him in 1969 also endured a long wait for a flight. Over a two-year period, between April 1981 and April 1983, each would make their maiden spaceflight aboard the Space Shuttle, with six of the seven going on to complete their second, third or fourth flights by October 1985.

“Talk about being a spaceman? This is it!”

Ron Evans, Apollo 17 CMP, during his trans-Earth EVA, December 17, 1972.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In the event, only the three manned missions flew to the workshop as originally planned, though there was some discussion prior to the third mission of flying a short 21-day closeout mission as Skylab-5. Instead, the third mission was increased from 56 to 84 days.

  2. 2.

    On January 22, 1973, former U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson (known as LBJ) died of a heart attack in Austin, Texas, aged just 64. In 1961, Vice President Johnson was instrumental in persuading President John F. Kennedy to select a manned lunar landing by the end of the decade as a national goal, to offset recent Soviet space triumphs and political embarrassments, such as the Bay of Pigs fiasco in Cuba. Johnson was a staunch space program supporter from Texas and strongly urged NASA to locate the MSC in his home state, which it did in 1962. Johnson became the 36th U.S. president following the assassination of Kennedy in November 1963, and was in office during the series of Gemini missions and the tragic fire that claimed the Apollo 1 astronauts. He witnessed the success of the first Apollo mission to the Moon with Apollo 8, before leaving office in January 1969. Following LBJ’s death, there was a desire to recognize his support of the nation’s space program, and America’s quest for the Moon, by renaming the MSC after him. This change was made on February 17, with the formal dedication occurring on August 27, 1973.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Astronautical Historian, Astro Info Service Ltd, Halesowen, West Midlands, UK

    David J. Shayler F.B.I.S

  2. Bangor, New South Wales, Australia

    Colin Burgess

Authors
  1. David J. Shayler F.B.I.S
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  2. Colin Burgess
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Shayler, D.J., Burgess, C. (2017). Where blue skies turn black. In: The Last of NASA's Original Pilot Astronauts . Springer Praxis Books(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51014-9_9

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