Edward Gibson | |
|---|---|
 Gibson with a Skylab model | |
| Born | Edward George Gibson (1936-11-08)November 8, 1936 (age 89) Buffalo, New York, U.S. |
| Education | University of Rochester (BS) California Institute of Technology (MS,PhD) |
| Awards | NASA Distinguished Service Medal |
| Space career | |
| NASA astronaut | |
Time in space | 84d 1h 15m |
| Selection | NASA Group 4 (1965) |
TotalEVAs | 3 |
Total EVA time | 15h 22m |
| Missions | Skylab 4 |
Mission insignia |  |
| Retirement | October 31, 1982 |
| Scientific career | |
| Thesis | Ionization Phenomena in a Gas-Particle Plasma (1964) |
Edward George Gibson (born November 8, 1936) is a formerNASA astronaut,pilot,engineer, andphysicist.
Before becoming an astronaut, Gibson graduated from theUniversity of Rochester and theCalifornia Institute of Technology. He became a research assistant injet propulsion while completing his studies, and eventually became a research scientist forPhilco Corporation until joining NASA in 1965. Gibson is the last surviving crew member ofSkylab 4.
Gibson was selected as part ofNASA Astronaut Group 4, the first group of scientist-astronauts. He served on the support crew ofApollo 12, the second Moon landing mission, before working on the development of theSkylabspace station. In 1973–74, Gibson made his only flight into space as science pilot aboardSkylab 4, the third and final crewed flight to Skylab. He, along with CommanderGerald Carr and PilotWilliam Pogue, spent just over 84 days in space.
Gibson resigned from NASA in December 1974, but returned in 1977 to preside over the selection of scientist-astronaut candidates. Gibson retired from NASA for the last time in October 1982.[1]: 336
Gibson was born inBuffalo, New York, on November 8, 1936.[1]: 62 From ages 2 to 8, Gibson battledosteomyelitis—soft spots in bones—and spent many months in and out of hospitals. Newly-availablepenicillin cured the disease. To strengthen his leg that was nearly amputated, Gibson took up sports: swimming, football, and track. He primarily used swimming to strengthen his leg.[2][3] He was active in theBoy Scouts of America. He earned the rank ofFirst Class.[4]
Gibson graduated fromKenmore Senior High School inKenmore, New York, in 1955, and earned aBachelor of Science degree inengineering from theUniversity of Rochester in June 1959.[3] At the University of Rochester, Gibson became a member of theTheta Chi fraternity. He received aMaster of Science degree in engineering (jet propulsion option) from theCalifornia Institute of Technology (Caltech) in June 1960 and aPhD in engineering with a minor inphysics from Caltech in June 1964.[3] He was supervised byMaria Wonenburger.
While studying at Caltech, Gibson was a research assistant in the field ofjet propulsion and classicalphysics. His technical publications are in the fields ofplasma physics andsolar physics. He was senior research scientist with the Applied Research Laboratories of thePhilco Corporation atNewport Beach, California, from June 1964 until moving to NASA.[5] While at Philco, he did research inlasers and theoptical breakdown of gases.[6]
Gibson has logged more than 4,300 hours flying time—2,270 hours injet aircraft.[6]
Gibson was selected as ascientist-astronaut by NASA in June 1965.[7] He completed a 53-week course in flight training atWilliams Air Force Base,Arizona, and earned hisAir Force wings. Since then, he has flownhelicopters and theT-38.[6]
He served as a member of the astronaut support crew and as aCAPCOM for theApollo 12 lunar landing,[8] becoming the first from the scientist-astronaut group to get a crew assignment of any kind. He also participated in the design and testing of many elements of theSkylab space station.[6] As part of his preparation for the Skylab program, Gibson studiedsolar physics, ultimately writing an introductory monograph/textbook on solarastrophysicsThe Quiet Sun,[9][10] apart from 1973 English edition published in the United States there was 1977Russian edition of this book, published in theSoviet Union byMir Publishers.[11]
Gibson was the science pilot ofSkylab 4.[12] The third and final crewed visit to the Skylab space station, it launched November 16, 1973, and concluded February 8, 1974.[13] This was the longest crewed flight (84 days 1 hour 15 minutes) in the history of crewed space exploration at that time. Gibson was accompanied on the record-setting 34.5-million-mile flight by CommanderGerald P. Carr and PilotWilliam R. Pogue.[13] They successfully completed 56 experiments, 26 science demonstrations, 15 subsystem detailed objectives, and 13 student investigations during their 1,214 revolutions of theEarth.[14] They also acquired a wide variety of Earth resources observations data using Skylab's Earth resources experiment package camera andsensor array.[15] Dr. Gibson was the crewman primarily responsible for the 338 hours of Apollo Telescope Mount operation, which made extensive observations of solar processes.[16]
Until the Soviet Union's Soyuz 26 broke the record in March 1978, Gibson and his Skylab 4 teammates held the world record for individual time in space: 2,017 hours 15 minutes 32 seconds.[15][17] Gibson logged 15 hours and 22 minutes in threeEVAs outside the Skylab Orbital Workshop.[6] Gibson is the last surviving Skylab 4 crew member (Carr died in 2020, and Pogue died in 2014).
Gibson resigned from NASA in December 1974 to do research on Skylab solar physics data as a senior staff scientist with the Aerospace Corporation ofLos Angeles, California. Beginning in March 1976, he served for one year as a consultant to ERNO Raumfahrttechnik GmbH, inWest Germany, on Spacelab design under the sponsorship of a U.S. Senior Scientist Award form theAlexander von Humboldt Foundation. In March 1977, Gibson returned to theAstronaut Office astronaut candidate selection and training as Chief of the Scientist-Astronaut Candidates. During his second tenure at NASA, Gibson had hoped to fly on another space station mission due to his experience on Skylab, but at the same time was not keen on flying aSpace Shuttle mission. He served as CAPCOM for STS-1.[1]: 513 Gibson ultimately decided to retire from NASA again on October 31, 1982.[1]: 336
From July 1980 to August 1987, Gibson worked forTRW as a project manager atSpace Park in support ofSpace Station Freedom.[18][19]
In October 1990, Gibson began his own consulting firm, Gibson International Corp. The firm provides consulting services on program management, market development and space infrastructure design and operations.[6]
He has performed a significant amount of speaking and writing, and published a text book in solar physics, two novels,Reach (1989)[20] andIn the Wrong Hands (1992),[21] and editedThe Greatest Adventure, a 1994 compilation of stories and pictures on space missions from many astronauts and cosmonauts around the world.[22]
He is the author of Space: Ever Farther, Ever Faster, a book reflecting on the history of space exploration and his experiences aboard Skylab 4 which was published byBook Publishers LLC in 2025.
Gibson was awarded aNational Science Foundation Fellowship and the R.C. Baker Fellowship at the California Institute of Technology. He received theJohnson Space Center Certificate of Commendation (1970).[6] He received the City ofNew York Gold Medal (1974).[6] Gibson, along with the rest of the Skylab astronauts, received the City of Chicago Gold Medal in 1974.[23] Gibson received the 1974 FAIYuri Gagarin Gold Medal.[24] In 1976, he received the U.S. Scientist Prize from theAlexander von Humboldt Foundation, which provided funds to research in West Germany for a year.[25] He received the JSC Special Achievement Award in 1978.[6] Gibson has also been presented withhonorary doctorates of science from the University of Rochester andWagner College inNew York City, both in 1974.[6]
The three Skylab astronaut crews were awarded the 1973Robert J. Collier Trophy "For proving beyond question the value of man in future explorations of space and the production of data of benefit to all the people on Earth."[26][27] In 1974, President Nixon presented the Skylab 4 crew with theNASA Distinguished Service Medal.[28] TheAmerican Astronautical Society's 1975 Flight Achievement Award was awarded to the Skylab 4 crew.[29][30]Federation Aeronautique Internationale awarded the Skylab 4 crew theDe La Vaulx Medal andV. M. Komarov Diploma for 1974.[31] Carr accepted the 1975Dr. Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy from President Ford, awarded to the Skylab astronauts.[32] The Skylab 4 crew won theAIAA Haley Astronautics Award in 1975 "For demonstrated outstanding courage and skill during their record-breaking 84-day Skylab mission".[33] He was one of 24 Apollo astronauts who were inducted into theU.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1997.[34][35]
Gibson is married to Julianne Volk ofTonawanda, New York. He has four children: Jannet Lynn (born November 9, 1960), John Edward (born May 2, 1964), Julie Ann (born October 12, 1968), and Joseph Michael (born July 11, 1971).[36][37]
In the 1998HBOminiseriesFrom the Earth to the Moon, Gibson was played by actor Geoffrey Nauffts.[38] As his character serves as Capcom for Apollo 12 regardless of actual shift changes, it can be argued that he is acomposite character of Gibson, Gerald Carr, andDon Lind.
Gibson, who joined TRW in 1980, is project manager of TRW's space station studies on free-flying platforms and the service, repair and maintenance of spacecraft.
TRW, Inc; Jul 1980 - Aug 1987; Redondo Beach, California ... He won and led a support contract to NASA'sGSFC for definition of Earth-observation satellites and servicing facilities on Space Station Freedom.
He met the press Thursday, with his attractive wife, Julianne...
| Flights |     | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Astronauts |
| ||||||
| Contingencies |
| ||||||
| People |
| ||||||
| Related | |||||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Other | |
