NASA Astronaut Group 7

Updated on Dec 22, 2023

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Astronaut Group 7, referred to in some documents as the USAF MOL Transfer, was announced by NASA on August 14, 1969, and was the last group to be selected during the Apollo era. After the USAF Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) project was cancelled, NASA hired seven of the astronauts selected for that program to form this "Group 7", roughly the younger half of the MOL astronauts. By the time they joined NASA, all Apollo flight assignments had been lined up, but four were given non-flying support assignments for Apollo. Others were also given support assignments for Skylab and the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, with Bobko and Crippen participating in the Skylab Medical Experiment Altitude Test. Group 7 went on to form the core of early Space Shuttle pilots, upgrading to commander after their first flight, flying 17 STS missions between them, plus the Approach and Landing Tests of Enterprise (OV-101).

Group members

Karol J. Bobko (born 1937), U.S. Air Force (3 flights)

STS-6 Challenger — April 1983 — Pilot — Maiden flight of Challenger, TDRS A satellite deployment mission STS-51-D Discovery — April 1985 — Commander — Anik C-1 and Syncom IV-3 satellite deployment mission, first politician in space STS-51-J Atlantis — October 1985 — Commander — Maiden flight of Atlantis, classified United States Department of Defense mission; DSCS-III satellite deployment

Robert L. Crippen (born 1937), U.S. Navy (4 flights)

STS-1 Columbia — April 1981 — Pilot — First Space Shuttle mission, maiden flight of Columbia, orbital test flight STS-7 Challenger — June 1983 — Commander — Anik C-2 and Palapa B1 satellite deployment mission, first American woman in space STS-41-C Challenger — April 1984 — Commander — Long Duration Exposure Facility deployment and Solar Max repair mission STS-41-G Challenger — October 1984 — Commander — Earth Radiation Budget Satellite deployment mission, first spacewalk by an American woman, first Canadian astronaut Crippen would eventually serve as director of the John F. Kennedy Space Center.

C. Gordon Fullerton (1936–2013), U.S. Air Force (2 flights + ALT)

ALT Enterprise — February through October 1977 — Pilot STS-3 Columbia — March 1982 — Pilot — Research and development flight STS-51-F Challenger — July 1985 — Commander — Spacelab pallet mission

Henry W. Hartsfield, Jr (1933–2014), U.S. Air Force (3 flights)

STS-4 Columbia — June 1982 — Pilot — Final research and development flight, first classified United States Department of Defense payload STS-41-D Discovery — August 1984 — Commander — Maiden flight of Discovery, SBS-D, Telstar 3C, and Syncom IV-2 satellite deployment mission STS-61-A Challenger — October 1985 — Commander — Spacelab mission

Robert F. Overmyer (1936–1996), U.S. Marine Corps (2 flights)

STS-5 Columbia — November 1982 — Pilot — SBS-C and Anik C-3 satellite deployment mission STS-51-B Challenger — April 1985 — Commander — Spacelab mission

Donald H. Peterson (born 1933), U.S. Air Force (1 flight)

STS-6 Challenger — April 1983 — Mission Specialist — Maiden flight of Challenger, TDRS A satellite deployment mission

Richard H. Truly (born 1937), U.S. Navy (2 flights + ALT)

ALT Enterprise — February through October 1977 — Pilot STS-2 Columbia — November 1981 — Pilot — Remote Manipulator System testing STS-8 Challenger — August 1983 — Commander — INSAT-1B satellite deployment mission, first night launch and night landing of the Shuttle Truly would later serve as Administrator of NASA.

References

NASA Astronaut Group 7 Wikipedia

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