NASA Astronaut Group 6 (the "XS-11", "Excess Eleven") was a group of eleven astronauts announced by NASA on August 4, 1967, the second group of scientist-astronauts. Given the lack of post-Apollo program funding, with the Apollo Applications Program being absorbed into the Skylab program, and NASA's existing surplus of astronauts, they did not expect any of the group to fly in space. Director of Flight Crew Operations Deke Slayton had planned to hire 20 to 30 new scientist-astronauts, but NASA found that only 11 of the 923 applicants were qualified, and hired them all. When the group reported to the Manned Spacecraft Center, Slayton told them that "We don't need you around here". He offered to accept their resignations, and promised ground assignments if they did not quit, but warned them to not fool themselves that they would soon fly in space. With self-deprecation, the men named themselves the "XS-11", or "Excess Eleven". The group would be the last group selected by NASA for over a decade. The seven members who stayed with NASA after the Apollo Program ended went on to form the core of early Space Shuttle mission specialists, accomplishing a total of 15 flights between 1982 and 1996.
Background By 1966, NASA had formulated ambitious plans for the Apollo Applications Program (AAP) that would follow the Apollo program. These called for Apollo hardware to be used to create space stations in Earth and lunar orbit, the development of a Space Shuttle to service them, and further visits to the Moon, as many as six a year, leading to the establishment of permanent bases there. Plans called for no less than 45 crewed missions, utilizing 19 Saturn V and 26 Saturn IB rockets. There would be three orbital workshops, three orbital laboratories and four Apollo Telescope Mounts. The first AAP launch was expected to occur as early as April 1968 if the Moon landing went well. Each orbital laboratory was expected to be visited by two or three crews. Slayton estimated that he would need 24 astronauts to fly the scheduled Apollo missions, and he had 31 on hand from the selections conducted in 1959, 1962, 1963 and 1965. This was barely sufficient for Apollo, but not enough to allow AAP missions to be flown at the same time. While Slayton and other NASA officials held private doubts about whether AAP would be approved and flown as planned, it was important that it would not be delayed or sidetracked by a shortage of astronauts. To carry out the program, nineteen pilot astronauts were selected in 1966. NASA also decided to augment the scientist astronauts selected in 1965 with a second intake.
Selection NASA issued a call for applications for scientist astronauts on September 26, 1966. The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) would conduct initial screening of candidates and forward their applications to NASA for selection. Accompanying the press release was a statement from Gene Shoemaker, the chairman of the NAS selection panel, which said:
An early Apollo mission will place an astronaut on the surface of the Moon to observe first hand both a wholly new environment and unknown phenomena. Subsequent flights may provide the opportunity to carry out long-term studies from manned orbiting laboratories above the Earth's atmosphere in astronomy, solar physics, magnetic fields and energetic particles; or, viewing the Earth from space, in meteorology, oceanography and geology. Release from the Earth's gravity will permit biologists and physicians to conduct sophisticated experimentation on the nature and properties of fundamental biological processes. A vast scientific frontier will be thus opened to exploration by competent scientists. The observations will provide the world with new facts and hypotheses in the study of the solar system and life. Key selection criteria were the same as for the 1965 intake. Candidates had to:
Be a United States citizen, or become one by March 15, 1967; Born on or after August 1, 1930; 6 feet 0 inches (1.83 m) or less in height; With a doctorate in the natural sciences, medicine or engineering, or the equivalent; and Meet the physical requirement for pilots. The announcement said that exceptions might be made for outstanding candidates, but height requirement was firm, an artifact of the size of the Apollo spacecraft. Applicants had to provide supporting documentation in the form of academic transcripts, multiple references, a research bibliography and medical history. The deadline for applications was midnight, January 8, 1967. It was expected that between twenty and thirty astronauts would be selected. By the deadline, 923 applications had been received. The NAS selection panel then went through them, and forwarded 69 on to NASA for consideration. For these candidates, background and security checks were conducted by the United States Civil Service Commission. They were then subjected to a week of physical and psychological tests and examinations at the USAF School of Aerospace Medicine at Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. This reduced the number of candidates to 21. Interviews were conducted at the Manned Spacecraft Center near Houston, Texas, by Mercury Seven astronaut Deke Slayton, NASA's Director of Flight Crew Operations; the Chief of the Astronaut Office, Alan Shepard; Wilmot N. Hess, the NASA Director of Science and Applications; NASA physician Charles Berry; scientist astronaut Owen Garriott; Maxime Faget, the chief engineer of the Apollo Program; and Robert F. Thompson, the head of the Apollo Applications Program. Finally, they were taken to Ellington Air Force Base where they were given a test flight in a Northrop T-38 Talon to measure their degree of comfort with flying. The names of the eleven successful candidates were officially announced on August 4, 1967. The group were demographically similar to previous astronaut groups: all were male and white, and all were married, seven with children. Two were born outside the United States. William E. Thornton and Karl Henize were over the age limit. They had written to Slayton during the selection process, and Slayton had informed them that the requirement would be waived for specially qualified individuals like themselves, a decision supported by the director of the Manned Spacecraft Center, Robert R. Gilruth, and Chris Kraft. The group contained three astronomers, two physicists, a chemist, a geophysicist, an electrical engineer, two physiologists and a physician/physicist.
Group members
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
