Thirty-Five New Guys (TFNGs) (1978)

NASA embraces diversity with some of the best-qualified astronauts yet

***UNDER CONSTRUCTION****

 

 

The 1978 Astronaut Group. Top Row: Dr. Guion S. Bluford, Jr., Mission Specialist; Daniel C. Brandenstein, Pilot; James F. Buchli, Mission Specialist; Michael L. Coats, Pilot; Richard O. Covey, Pilot; John O. Creighton, Pilot; John M. Fabian, Mission Specialist. Second Row: Dr. Anna L. Fisher, Mission Specialist; Dale Gardner, Mission Specialist; Robert L. "Hoot" Gibson, Pilot; Frederick D. Gregory, Pilot; S. David Griggs, Pilot; Terry J. Hart, Mission Specialist; Frederick H. "Rick" Hauck, Pilot. Third Row: Dr Steven A. Hawley, Mission Specialist; Dr. Jeffrey A. Hoffman, Mission Specialist; Dr. Shannon Lucid, Mission Specialist; Jon A. McBride, Pilot; Dr. Ronald E. McNair, Mission Specialist; Richard M. "Mike" Mullane, Mission Specialist; Steven R. Nagel, Pilot. Fourth Row: Dr. George D. Nelson, Mission Specialist; Ellison S. Onizuka, Mission Specialist; Dr. Judith A. Resnik, Mission Specialist; Dr. Sally K. Ride, Mission Specialist; Francis R. Scobee, Pilot; Dr. Margaret Rhea Seddon, Mission Specialist; Brewster H. Shaw, Pilot. Fifth Row: Loren J. Shriver, Pilot; Robert L. Stewart, Mission Specialist; Dr. Kathryn D. "Kathy" Sullivan, Mission Specialist; Dr. Norman E. "Norm" Thagard, Mission Specialist; Dr. James D. A. "Ox" van Hoften, Mission Specialist; David M. "Dave" Walker, Pilot; Donald E. Williams, Pilot. NASA Photos.   

The 1978 group was the largest astronaut-selection group yet; while previous groups were either scientists or pilots only, the 1978 group included both. In the era of the Shuttle, there would be two types of "Career Astronauts," as NASA likes to call them-Pilots and Mission Specialists. Shuttle missions would also eventually carry Payload Specialists, who were often employees of the company that built the payload, or the scientists that developed it. Payload Specialists are not usually employed by NASA and are therefore not considered Career Astronauts by the agency. This group came to call themselves the TFNGs, for "Thirty-Five New Guys"-although, for the first time, the group included women, six of 'em, all Mission Specialists. This group also was the first NASA group to include African-Americans and Asian-Americans. In all, the TFNGs included 15 Pilot-Astronauts and 20 Mission Specialists.

 

NASAs first six women astronauts pose with a mockup of a personal rescue enclosure (PRE) or "rescue ball" in the crew systems laboratory at the Johnson Space Center. L-R: Margaret R. (Rhea) Seddon, Kathryn D. Sullivan, Judith A. Resnick, Sally K. Ride, Anna L. Fisher, and Shannon W. Lucid. Rhea Seddon was born Nov. 8, 1947, in Murfreesboro, TN. She was an M.D., with a Bachelor of Arts in physiology from the University of California-Berkeley, 1970, and a Doctorate of medicine from the University of Tennessee College of Medicine, 1973. Kathryn Sullivan was born Oct. 3, 1951, in Paterson, NJ. She specialized in Earth sciences, including geology and oceanography. Judy Resnick was born in Akron, OH, on April 5, 1949. She was an electrical engineer-and classical pianist. Sally Ride was born in Los Angeles on May 26, 1951. Sally held a Ph. D in physics. Anna Fisher was born Aug. 24, 1949, in St. Albans, NY. She was a chemist. Shannon Lucid was born in Shanghai, China, on Jan. 14, 1943-during the Japanese occupation. Shannon was also a chemist. The PRE was created as a possible means of transporting astronauts from one Shuttle to another in case of an emergency. The PRE only reached the prototype stage and never flew on any missions. NASA Photo. 

 

 

Guion Bluford was 6-foot tall native of Philadelphia. He had flown Air Force F-4s with the 557th TFS in Vietnam. Based at Cam Ranh Bay, he flew 144 combat missions during the war, 65 of them "up North." He went on to become a flight instructor, and then attended the Air Force's various schools of technology and leadership (he already had a degree in Aerospace Engineering from Penn State). He and wife Linda had two teenage sons when he was selected as a Mission Specialist with the 1978 astronaut group. He spent his spare time reading, swimming, jogging, scuba diving, and playing racquetball and handball. NASA Photo.

 

Daniel Brandenstein, from Watertown, Wisconsin, was a former Navy A-6 pilot who flew 192 combat missions over two carrier deployments during the Vietnam War. NASA Photo.

 

James F. Buchli, a Marine, served as a platoon commander on the ground in Vietnam before entering flight training in 1972. Jim went on to fly attack planes for the Marines, and later went to the Navy's test pilot school at Pax River. He received a bachelor of science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Annapolis in 1967 and a master of science degree in Aeronautical Engineering Systems from the University of West Florida in 1975. He was born in New Rockford, ND, on June 20, 1945, but considers Fargo his hometown. NASA Photo.

 

Michael Coats. NASA Photo.

 

Richard Covey (l) and Rick Hauck (r) jog around Johnson Space Center in preparation for STS-26 in 1988. On this mission-the first one after the Challenger explosion-Covey was the Shuttle Pilot, and Hauck was the Commander. NASA Photo.

 

 

John Creighton, during training to command STS-36. NASA Photo.

 

 

Mission Specialists John Fabian (l) and Norm Thagard (r) at a postflight press conference after STS-7 in 1983. NASA Photo.

 

Dale A. Gardner. NASA Photo.

 

Robert "Hoot" Gibson suits up for the first Shuttle-Mir docking mission, STS-71 in 1995. NASA Photo.