NASA's First Space Shuttle Astronaut Selection

Unofficially they called themselves the TFNG, or the Thirty-Five New Guys. Officially, they were NASA's Group 8 astronauts, selected in January 1978 to train for orbital missions aboard the Space Shuttle. Prior to this time only pilots or scientists trained as pilots had been assigned to fly on America's spacecraft, but with the advent of the innovative winged spacecraft the door was finally opened to non-pilots, including women and minorities. In all, 15 of those selected were categorised as Pilot Astronauts, while the other 20 would train under the new designation of Mission Specialist. Altogether, the Group 8 astronauts would be launched on a total of 103 space missions; some flying only once, while others flew into orbit as many as five times. Sadly, four of their number would perish in the Challenger tragedy in January 1986.

In their latest collaborative effort, the authors bring to life the amazing story behind the selection of the first group of Space Shuttle astronauts, examining their varied backgrounds and many accomplishments in a fresh and accessible way through deep research and revealing interviews. Throughout its remarkable 30-year history as the workhorse of NASA's human spaceflight exploration, twice halted through tragedy, the Shuttle fleet performed with magnificence. So too did these 35 men and women, swept up in the dynamic thrust and ongoing development of America's Space Shuttle program.

"This book on the Group 8 Astronauts, the TFNGs, is an excellent summation of the individuals first selected for the new Space Shuttle Program. It provides insight into what it took to first get the Space Shuttle flying. For any space enthusiast it is a must read."

• Robert L. Crippen PLT on STS-1 As a reader, I had many moments where long, lost memories of the triumph and tragedy of the space shuttle program were brilliantly reawakened at the turn of a page. Loved it! This is a must-have book for every space enthusiast's library.

- ** TFNG Mission Specialist Astronaut Richard 'Mike' Mullane, author of Riding Rockets: The Outrageous Tales of a Space Shuttle Astronaut

Many of the anecdotes in the book brought back memories of challenges, opportunities, and a team of men and women who were committed not just to the space program, but to one another...I've gone back to it several times as a reference source.

- ** TFNG Steve Hawley, 5-time Space Shuttle Mission Specialist Astronaut

"The TFNG book is incredible and amazingly thorough! The detail in the book is awesome! It is my go-to book for any of the details I've forgotten."

- ** TFNG Dr. Rhea Seddon, 3-time Space Shuttle Mission Specialist Astronaut.

"I can't believe how detailed and complete it is!!! FANTASTIC work!!!"

- ** TFNG Robert L."Hoot" Gibson, 5-time Space Shuttle Pilot & Commander and former Chief of the NASA Astronaut Office

The first definitive source on the lives, achievements and selection of NASA's first group of space shuttle astronauts Covers three decades of operation from the eyes of the 35 diverse crew members Presents the latest astronaut group history and analysis to be written by the coauthors

Autorentext
Michael E. Haddad retired 2011 from NASA at Kennedy Space Center with 32 years of Flight and Ground systems engineering and operational experience. His responsibilities included hands-on processing for different classifications of flight hardware for: domestic and international payloads; Spacelab payloads, shuttle planetary, observatory and satellite class payloads such as Galileo, Ulysses, and Gamma Ray Observatory; TDRS communication satellites and Hubble Space Telescope. He was the KSC Point-of-Contact for Extravehicular Activities (EVA) & Crew Systems for International Space Station (ISS) and Constellation Program, as well as the integration engineer for the ISS Multi-Element Integrated Testing (MEIT). Haddad created On-Orbit Constraints Tests that verified interfaces between flight systems launched on different missions then assembled in space. David J. Shayler has been following the shuttle operational story for over 30 years and in particular aspects of its relationship with space stations. He has presented numerous papers on the topic and has authored series of articles published by the BIS in support of this outreach program and research. This work includes: 1991: The proposed USSR Salyut and US Shuttle Docking Mission circa 1981 (paper presented at the BIS Soviet Technical Forum 1991; paper published in JBIS 1991) 2000: American flights to Mir (Space shuttle) (published in BIS publication History of Mir; paper presented at BIS Soviet Technical Forum) 2002: NASA Shuttle missions to ISS (1998-2002) (published in BIS publication From Imagination to Reality: the ISS Volume 1) 2005: NASA Shuttle missions to ISS (2002-2005) (published in the BIS publication From Imagination to Reality: the ISS Volume 2) Unpublished: NASA Shuttle missions to ISS (2005-2011) Shayler joined the BIS in January 1976 and has participated in numerous activities, programs and projects including chairing meetings, working on committees and contributing to society publications. Dozens of his articles have appeared in BIS publications since 1977. He created Astro Info Service in October 1982 to focus his space writing and research, with lectures and educational outreach activities. Early publications included the periodicals ORBITER (on the Shuttle) and ZENIT (on Soviet activities), and a growing range of biographies on the world's space explorers. In 1990 he co-created the Midland Spaceflight Society and acts as its chairman. His first books were published in 1987 by Ian Allen and Salamander Books and since then over 20 titles have been authored including 13 titles in the Praxis Space Library between 2000 and 2009. He has also contributed to U. S. books and collections on human spaceflight including the three editions of Macmillan's Who's Who in Space edited by Michael Cassutt. In 2008 his authorised biography on Skylab astronaut Jerry Carr was published after 20years' research. Personal research has been conducted at NASA JSC in Houston and at KSC in Florida, as well as at Rice and Clear Lake Universities and NARA archives in Texas. His research has also allowed him to complete a fascinating and informative visit to Russia in 2003 visiting the Cosmonaut Training Center and other facilities around Moscow.

Inhalt

Authors' Preface.- Acknowledgements.- Foreword.- Dedication.- List of Abbreviations and acronyms.- Prologue.- Chapter 1: Expanding 'The Right Stuff'.- Chapter 2: Who could fly?.- Chapter 3: The new pilot astronauts.- Chapter 4: The first Mission Specialists.- Chapter 5: All Change in the Astronaut Office.- Chapter 6: Ascan pioneers.- Chapter 7: Silver Pin astronauts.- Chapter 8: Preparing to fly.- Chapter 9: NASA's All-Electric Flying Machine.- Chapter 10: The TFNG take wings.- Chapter 11: Go at throttle up.- Chapter 12: The final missions.- Chapter 13: Flying a desk.- Chapter 14: Reflections.- Chapter 15: The legacy.- Afterword.- Appendices.- Bibliography.- About the authors.- Other works by the authors.- Index.