Apollo Expeditions to the Moon
CHAPTER 8.2
THE STRENUOUS SELECTION PROCESS
In December 1958, plans had been made to post civil service notices inviting applications
for astronaut service, GS-12 to GS-15, salary $8,330 to $12,770. President
Eisenhower thought this ridiculous, and decided that the rolls of military test pilots
would furnish all the astronauts necessary. "It was one of the best decisions he ever
made", said Robert Gilruth sixteen years later. "It ruled out the matadors, mountain
climbers, scuba divers, and race drivers and gave us stable guys who had already been
screened for security." From the records of 508 test pilots, 110 were found to meet the
minimum standards (including the height and age limitations, 5 feet 11 inches and
40 years).
After further examination, the 110 were narrowed to 69, then to 32, who were put
through strenuous physical tests: How much heat could the man stand? How much
noise? How many balloons could he blow up before he collapsed? How long could he
keep his feet in ice water? How long could he run on a treadmill?
Worst of all, the astronauts thought, were the 25 psychological tests that entailed
minute and painful self-examination ("Write 20 answers to the question: 'Who am I?'")
From the 18 survivors, seven were chosen in April 1959, and they would remain the
Nation's only astronauts for three and one-half years. Their IQs ranged from 130 to
145, with a mean of 136. Even before they had accomplished anything they became
instant heroes to small boys and other hero-worshipers around the world.
Among those who flunked the first round were James Lovell and Charles Conrad,
who were picked up in the Second Nine in 1962 and went on to make four spaceflights
apiece - a record they shared only with John Young and Tom Stafford. The Second
Nine proved even more stable than their predecessors. Excepting Ed White, killed in
the spacecraft fire of January 1967, and Elliott See, who died in a plane crash, all
commanded Apollo flights.
The Second Nine were test pilots, too, but two of them were civilians: Neil Armstrong,
who had flown the X-15 for NASA, and See a General Electric flier. By the
time the third group of fourteen was selected in 1963 the test-pilot requirement had
been dropped - as had most of the outlandish physical tests - but the educational level
had risen to an averacye of 5.6 years of college, even though the 10 average fell a couple
of points below the first two groups. Four of the fourteen would die in accidents without
making a spaceflight.
The fourth group of six men wasn't even required to be pilots because they were
scientists (doctors of geology, medicine, physics, and electrical engineering) who, after
selection, had to take an extra year to learn to fly. Because three missions were cut
from the program, only one, Harrison Schmitt, was to fly in Apollo. Three others flew
in Skylab.
The fifth group was the biggest of all, nineteen pilots, of whom twelve would fly
in Apollo, three in Skylab, and one in Apollo-Soyuz. The sixth group, eleven more
scientists, scored the highest mean IQ, 141, but they came too late to fly and six
resigned before 1975. The final group of seven transferred from the Air Force's defunct
Manned Orbital Laboratory in 1969 and their hope had to rest on the resumption of
flight with the Space Shuttle about 1979.
One thing all astronauts had in common: hard work. Each astronaut was assigned
one or more specialties, which he had to learn with dizzying completeness. Neil Armstrong,
for example, was assigned trainers and simulators, John Young environmental
control systems and personal and survival equipment, Frank Borman boosters. In the
third group Buzz Aldrin, who had earned a doctorate with a dissertation on orbital
rendezvous, was a natural for mission planning; Bill Anders, who had a master's degree
in nuclear engineering, drew the environmental control system; Mike Collins had the
spacesuit and extravehicular activity. The astronauts worked with and learned from
scientists and engineers, and suggested many ideas from a crewman's viewpoint.
