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“Go at throttle up”

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NASA's First Space Shuttle Astronaut Selection

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

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Abstract

One year before Dick Truly’s statement, the Shuttle manifest for 1986 featured a demanding 15 launches, including 13 from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and the first two from Vandenberg Air Force Base (AFB) in California, as shown in Table 11.1.

“The naming of the crew for the next flight

is a major event in the process

of returning the Shuttle to flight.”

Rear Admiral Richard H. Truly,

NASA Associate Administrator for Spaceflight

STS-26 crew announcement, January 9, 1987.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Astronauts who were serving military officers were considered to be on a seven-year tour of duty (with possible extensions) at NASA, in an understanding between the space agency and the DOD. Civilian astronauts were expected to remain at NASA for at least five years.

  2. 2.

    At one point, Manned Spaceflight Engineer (MSE) Kathy Roberts was being considered to fly on STS-27 with this crew. Her payload specialty was the Lacrosse Imaging Radar Satellite, which was the prime payload for this mission. However, when NASA instigated a rule that its astronauts would be the only ones to fly the first five post-Challenger missions (STS-26, 27, 28, 29 and 30), Roberts lost her place on the crew and the chance to fly into space.

  3. 3.

    Gregory’s administrative assignments included: Chief of Operational Safety at NASA HQ; Chief of Astronaut Training; and member of both the Orbiter Configuration Control Board and of the Space Shuttle Program Control Board.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

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

    David J. Shayler

  2. Spaceflight Historian, Bangor, New South Wales, Australia

    Colin Burgess

Authors
  1. David J. Shayler
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  2. Colin Burgess
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Shayler, D.J., Burgess, C. (2020). “Go at throttle up”. In: NASA's First Space Shuttle Astronaut Selection. Springer Praxis Books(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45742-6_11

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