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
Dave Shayler's interest in the U.S. Gemini program began during the late 1960s while reading about the later missions of Apollo astronauts as they prepared for the first lunar landings. The skills learned, which secured their seats on Apollo, were achieved during ten Gemini missions flown between March 1965 and November 1966. From that early research he learnt that Gemini was an important stepping stone to Apollo and though short, it was a critical program not only on the way to the Moon but also in planning future programs. Even today, nearly 50 years after the final Gemini spacecraft flew, the program holds a special place in the hearts of those who worked on the project. Over the years this research continued and resulted in visits to the NASA JSC facilities and archives in Houston and the NARA records offices in Fort Worth, Texas, where many of the official Gemini documents had been retired. Dave had the good fortune to meet and interview astronauts and engineers who worked on the program and access retired documentation from that exciting era. In 1976, as his interest in human spaceflight developed, Dave joined the British Interplanetary Society; in 1984 Dave was elected a Fellow and between 2013 and 2019 served as a member of the BIS Council. In 2020 he became the third Editor of Space Chronicle the BIS space history magazine. Dave has also has served as Chair for the BIS Library Committee and as Coordinator and Co-Chair of the annual Sino/Russian Technical Forum. In order to focus research and writing activities he formed his own company, Astro Info Service, in October 1982. Together with his writing activities this has allowed Dave to travel to the United States and Russia to tour leading spaceflight facilities, interview astronauts, cosmonauts, managers and engineers and research official documentation on various aspects of human space history, hardware and operations, including the Gemini program.

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.