NASA's Scientist Astronauts
David J. Shayler and Colin Burgess

The first astronauts were military test pilots. Science was never at the forefront of their minds – their primary objective was to survive the mission and report on engineering aspects of their flights. In 1965, the first of two teams of NASA scientist-astronauts was selected, but not without causing immediate outcries and deep divisions within the ranks of existing astronauts, who hotly contended that the scientists’ lack of flight and technical experience could jeopardise the safety of future missions and the crews’ lives.
NASA’s Scientist-Astronauts:
- is the first book about NASA’s two scientist-astronaut groups from the 1960s
- reveals how their fortunes and careers were shaped or even cut short by budgets, politics and flight opportunities
- provides an inside view of the workings of the Astronaut Office
- tells how the first astronaut scientists and physicians pioneered the Science officer role on the ISS
This incredible story relates how a small number of dedicated scientists helped NASA shape personal scientific research in space. Easily readable and well-illustrated, it is an invaluable source of reference for all speceflight enthusiasts.
Table of Contents
- Foreword
- Authors' Preface
- Acknowledgements
- List of Illustrations
- List of Tables
- List of Abbreviations
- Other Works
- Prologue
- The Wrong Stuff
- Scientists as Astronauts
- The Scientific Six
- School for Scientists
- The Excess Eleven
- 'Flying Is Just Not My Cup of Tea'
- A Geologist on the Moon
- Laboratories in the Sky
- Shuttling into Space
- The Long Wait
- Ending of Eras
- Science Officers on ISS
- Appendix 1 -- Chronology of the NASA Scientist-Astronaut Programme
- Appendix 2 -- Scientist-Astronaut Careers and Experience
- Appendix 3 -- Spaceflight Records and EVA Experience
- Appendix 4 -- Profiles of the Seventeen
- Appendix 5 -- Where Are They Now?
- Bibliography
- Index
Extent: 600 pages
Binding: Paperback
Publication Date: August 2006
ISBN: 978-0-387-21897-7

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