| Group 7 | |
|---|---|
 Group 7 astronauts. Left to right: Bobko, Fullerton, Hartsfield, Crippen, Peterson, Truly and Overmyer. | |
| Year selected | 1969 |
| Number selected | 7 |
← 6 (1967) 8 (1978) → | |
NASA Astronaut Group 7 was a group of seven astronauts accepted by theNational Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on August 14, 1969. It was the last group to be selected during theProject Apollo era, and the first since theMercury Seven in which all members were active-duty military personnel, and all made flights into space.
TheManned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) was a semi-secretUnited States Air Force (USAF) space project, with a public face but a covert reconnaissance mission. Seventeen astronauts were selected for the program in three intakes in 1965, 1966 and 1967. They were drawn from the USAF, US Navy and US Marine Corps, but all were graduates of the USAFAerospace Research Pilot School. The MOL program intended to use a modified NASAProject Gemini spacecraft known asGemini B.
When the MOL program was canceled in June 1969, fourteen astronauts remained in the program. NASA accepted the seven youngest as NASA astronauts. By the time they joined NASA, all Apollo flight assignments had been lined up, but they were given non-flying support assignments for Apollo,Skylab and theApollo-Soyuz Test Project. The former MOL astronauts went on to form the core of earlySpace Shuttle pilots, upgrading to commander after their first flight, and flying 17 missions between them.
On August 25, 1962, theUnited States Air Force began studies of a manned spy satellite, which became theManned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL).[1] PresidentLyndon Johnson announced the MOL Program on August 25, 1965.[2][3] Military astronauts would use theGemini B spacecraft.[1] MOL was a semi-secret project, with public experiments but a covert reconnaissance mission.[4]
The selection criteria for MOL astronauts was:
No call for volunteers was issued for the first group; fifteen candidates, all ARPS graduates, were selected for a week of medical evaluation in October 1964. The evaluations were similar to those conducted for the NASA astronaut groups.[6][7] The names of the first group of eight MOL astronauts were publicly announced on November 12, 1965.[5] Five more were announced on June 17, 1966,[8] and four more on June 30, 1967.[6][9]
On June 10, 1969, the MOL Project was canceled.[10] Fourteen of its seventeen astronauts were still with the program;John L. Finley had returned to the Navy,Michael J. Adams transferred to theX-15, andRobert H. Lawrence died during training.[11][12] Many had hoped since childhood to travel to space. The program asked NASA if it could use MOL resources, including astronauts. Most of the 14 wanted to transfer.[13]
Director of Flight Crew OperationsDeke Slayton told the MOL group that he did not need more astronauts for a diminishing number ofApollo andApollo Applications Program flights.Manned Spacecraft Center directorRobert R. Gilruth agreed, butDeputy Administrator of NASAGeorge Mueller thought that sooner or later the agency would need help from the USAF, and maintaining good relations was good policy. Slayton and Gilruth agreed to take the seven who were 35 or younger. NASA also tookAlbert H. Crews as a test pilot. The transfer of the seven MOL astronauts was announced on August 14, 1969.[14][15][16]
| Image | Name | Born | Died | Career | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Karol J. Bobko | Queens, New York December 23, 1937 | Half Moon Bay, California August 17, 2023 | Bobko was ranked 27th in the first graduating class of theUnited States Air Force Academy, from which he received aBachelor of Science degree in 1959. He became its first graduate to become an astronaut. He graduated from the ARPS with class 65-C in 1965, and earned aMaster of Science degree in aerospace engineering from theUniversity of Southern California in 1970. Bobko was a member of the support crew for theApollo-Soyuz Test Project in July 1975 and the Space ShuttleApproach and Landing Tests at Edwards Air Force Base in 1977. He flew in space three times: as pilot ofSTS-6, the maiden flight of theSpace Shuttle Challenger in April 1983; as commander ofSTS-51-D in theSpace Shuttle Discovery in April 1985; and as commander ofSTS-51-J, the maiden flight of theSpace Shuttle Atlantis in October 1985, and is the only astronaut to have flown on the maiden flights of two space shuttles. He retired from NASA on November 30, 1988, and from the USAF with the rank of colonel on January 1, 1989. | [17][18] |
 | Robert L. Crippen | Beaumont, Texas September 11, 1937 | Crippen received aBachelor of Science degree inaerospace engineering from theUniversity of Texas in 1960, and was commissioned in theUS Navy through itsAviation Officer Candidate School. He graduated from the ARPS with class 65-A in 1965. Crippen was a member of astronaut support crew for theSkylab 2,3, and4 in 1973 and 1974, and theApollo-Soyuz Test Project in July 1975. He flew in space four times. His first mission was in April 1981 as pilot ofSTS-1, the first Space Shuttle mission and the maiden flight of theSpace Shuttle Columbia. He subsequently commanded three missions in theSpace Shuttle Challenger:STS-7 in June 1983,STS-41-C in April 1984, andSTS-41-G in October 1984. He served as deputy director for Shuttle Operations at theKennedy Space Center from 1986 to 1989; director of the Space Shuttle Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC, from 1990 to 1992; and director of the Kennedy Space Center from 1992 to 1995. He retired from the Navy with the rank of captain in 1991, and from NASA in 1995. | [19][20] | |
 | C. Gordon Fullerton | Rochester, New York October 11, 1936 | August 21, 2013 | Fullerton earnedBachelor of Science andMaster of Science degrees in mechanical engineering from theCalifornia Institute of Technology in 1957 and 1958 respectively. He was commissioned in the USAF in 1958 through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program, and graduated from the ARPS with class 64-B in 1965. Fullerton served on the support crews for theApollo 14 and17 lunar landing missions, and was aCAPCOM forApollo 14,15,16 and 17, and piloted theSpace Shuttle Enterprise in the Approach and Landing Tests in February through October 1977. He flew in space twice: as pilot of theSpace Shuttle Columbia in theSTS-3 mission in March 1982; and as commander of theSpace Shuttle Challenger in theSTS-51-F mission in July 1985. He retired from the Air Force in 1988 with the rank of colonel. He flew theShuttle Carrier Aircraft for several years, ferrying space shuttles between Edwards and the Kennedy Space Center, and served as associate director of Flight Operations at NASA'sDryden Flight Research Center. He retired from NASA in 2007. | [21][22][23] |
 | Henry W. Hartsfield Jr. | Birmingham, Alabama November 21, 1933 | July 17, 2014 | Hartsfield received aBachelor of Science degree in physics fromAuburn University in 1954, and aMaster of Science degree in engineering science from theUniversity of Tennessee in 1971. On graduation from Auburn University he accepted a commission in the USAF through theArmy Reserve Officers' Training Corps program. He graduated from the ARPS with class 64-C in 1965. He was a member of the support crew forApollo 16 and theSkylab 2,3, and4 missions. He flew in space three times: as pilot of theSpace Shuttle Columbia in theSTS-4 mission in June 1982; as commander of theSpace Shuttle Discovery on its maiden mission,STS-41-D in August 1984; and as commander ofSpace Shuttle Challenger in theSTS-61-ASpacelab mission in October 1985. He retired from the USAF in 1977 with the rank of colonel. Hartsfield served as DeputyChief of the Astronaut Office from 1986 to 1987, then as the Deputy Director for Flight Crew Operations from 1987 to 1989. He had temporary assignments in the Office of Space Flight at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC, and as the Deputy Manager for Operations in the Space Station Projects Office at theMarshall Space Flight Center inHuntsville, Alabama. In 1991 he joined theSpace Station Freedom Program at theJohnson Space Center. He retired from NASA in 1998. | [24][25][26] |
 | Robert F. Overmyer | Lorain, Ohio July 14, 1936 | March 22, 1996 | Overmyer received aBachelor of Science degree in physics fromBaldwin Wallace College in 1958, and aMaster of Science degree in aeronautics with a major in aeronautical engineering from theUS Naval Postgraduate School in 1964. He enlisted in theUnited States Marine Corps while at Baldwin, and was commissioned on January 13, 1958. He graduated from the ARPS with class 65-C in August 1965. Overmyer was a support crew member forApollo 17 in 1973 and theApollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975. He flew in space twice: as pilot of theSpace Shuttle Columbia on theSTS-5 mission in November 1982; and as commander of theSTS-51-BSpacelab mission in theSpace Shuttle Challenger in April 1985. In May 1986, he retired from both NASA and the Marine Corps, with the rank of colonel. | [27][28] |
 | Donald H. Peterson | Winona, Mississippi October 22, 1933 | May 27, 2018 | Peterson received a Bachelor of Science degree from theUnited States Military Academy atWest Point, New York, in 1955, and joined the USAF. He earned a master's degree in nuclear engineering from theAir Force Institute of Technology in 1962. He graduated from the ARPS with class 66-B in 1967. Peterson served on the support crew forApollo 16. He resigned from the USAF with the rank of colonel in 1979. He flew in space April 1983 on theSTS-6 mission, the maiden flight of theSpace Shuttle Challenger as amission specialist. On this mission he participated in the firstextravehicular activity (EVA) of the Space Shuttle program, a spacewalk lasting 4 hours and 15 minutes. He resigned from NASA in December 1984. | [29][30] |
 | Richard H. Truly | Fayette, Mississippi November 12, 1937 | February 27, 2024 | Truly received a Bachelor of Aeronautical Engineering degree from theGeorgia Institute of Technology in 1959, and was commissioned on graduation through theNaval Reserve Officers Training Corps. He graduated from the ARPS with class Class 64-A in December 1964. He was a member of the support crew andcapsule communicator forSkylab 2,3, and4 and theApollo-Soyuz Test Project. Truly was pilot for one of the two-man crews that flew theSpace Shuttle Enterprise in theApproach and Landing Tests in 1977. Truly flew in space twice: as pilot of theSpace Shuttle Columbia on theSTS-2 mission in November 1981; and as commander of theSpace Shuttle Challenger on theSTS-8 mission in August 1983. He left NASA in 1983 to become the first commander of theNaval Space Command, but returned as Associate Administrator of Space Flight on February 20, 1986. He retired from the Navy with the rank ofvice admiral on June 16, 1989, shortly after being appointed the eighthAdministrator of NASA. He retired from NASA in April 1992. | [31][32] |
The seven NASA transfers under the age limit did not go through a selection process. Some immediately started working for the agency, and others in 1970 after a year of further education.[33] They had not trained for specific MOL missions but had received useful generic training, including jungle and water survival andScuba school, and helped develop MOL systems.[34] While Slayton warned the MOL transfers that they would probably not fly until the space shuttle around 1980, he did have many duties for them.[33] The first step was selection to a mission support crew. Fullerton served on the support crews for the Apollo 14 and 17 lunar landing missions, Hartsfield and Peterson on that of Apollo 16, and Overmyer on that of Apollo 17, and they performed CAPCOM duties on those missions. Fullerton was also CAPCOM on Apollo 15 and 16.[23] Crippen, Hartsfield and Truly served on the support crews for the Skylab missions,[35] and Bobko, Crippen, Overmyer and Truly served on that of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.[36]
On February 24, 1976, NASA announced the two crews of two astronauts to fly theApproach and Landing Tests in theSpace Shuttle Enterprise. In each case, one of the MOL astronauts was paired with an experienced member ofNASA Astronaut Group 5. The commander of the first crew wasFred Haise, with Fullerton as pilot, and the second was commanded byJoe Engle, with Truly as pilot.[note 1] By this time, only 31 of the 73 pilot and scientist astronauts selected between 1959 and 1969 remained with NASA, and they would soon be outnumbered by the35 newcomers selected in 1978.[38]
All seven MOL astronauts flew on the Space Shuttle,[33] starting with Crippen on STS-1, the first mission, in April 1981. The pattern of a senior astronaut flying as command with a member of the seven MOL astronauts as pilot was followed for the first six shuttle missions, after which all members of the group had flown. Although they had trained for Gemini spacecraft in which they would work in pairs, the April 1983 STS-6 mission was the only one in which two of them flew on the same mission. Peterson's extravehicular activity on that mission, the first in the Space Shuttle program, was the only one conducted by a member of the group. All the others would fly at least one more mission, as the mission commander, before they retired.[39] Hartsfield commanded the last mission flown by a member of the group,STS-61A, in October and November 1985.[40] The group flew 17 missions in total.[41]