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Atlanta, GA | Posted: February 3, 2014
Summary Sentence:
First Shuttle pilot, Capt. Robert Crippen headlines Gebhardt Lecture
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Robert Crippen
Crippen Speaks at ASDLAsk retired NASA Shuttle pilot Robert Crippen what was most memorable about the more than 565 hours he spent in space, and he is likely to paraphrase another astronaut, his Shuttle colleague John Young, AE ‘52.
“’That part between the take-off and the landing – that’s the best part,’” said Crippen during a recent phone interview. “The weightlessness is fun, too, but being able to look out the window and see this ‘spaceship Earth’ is nothing short of fantastic.”
The Georgia Tech community will get a chance to get more details from Crippen on Thursday, February 6, at 3:30 p.m. when he presents, “The Shuttle and I” as a part of AE’s Gebhardt Lecture Series, at the Clough Commons (144). The presentation is free.
A native of Texas, Crippen took a traditional route to becoming an astronaut, studying aerospace engineering as an undergraduate and joining the US Navy where he was recruited by NASA after training to become a fighter pilot. In 1981, he piloted the first-ever Shuttle flight and went on to serve as Commander on three others.
Almost 40 years later, Crippen notes, a new generation of private companies (e.g. SpaceX and Virgin Galactic) has created different opportunities for space travel. In 2014, NASA is not the only way into the stars. But there is no shortcut to being a leader in space exploration, he said, and that’s where the United States should be positioning itself.
“We can partner with private companies and other countries, of course, and that’s what we’re doing but if we want to go beyond where we are now, we need to commit to the space program,” he said. “If the United States stands down on its commitment to space exploration, we’ll see other countries, like India, China or Russia, step up.”
Retired after 3 decades with NASA, Crippen still supports this commitment through the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, a private, non-profit established by the six surviving members of America’s original Mercury Seven astronauts. Since its inception in 1984, ASF has disbursed more than $3.7 million in scholarships to the best and brightest, including 19 from Georgia Tech.
“We’re trying to stimulate interest across the board, not just aerospace – mathematics, engineering, technology, because we need to maintain our position,” he said. “A large number of our recipients work in the aerospace field, and, out of the last eight who were selected to become astronauts, one of them was an ASF recipient.”
Reflecting on what has been a storied career, Crippen points out that there have been lots of bumps along the way. For instance, in 1967, he opted to join the military-based Manned Orbital Laboratory (MOL) project, thinking that he’d have a better chance of flying in that program than in another program launched by fledgling space program.
“Lo and behold, in 1969, they canceled the [MOL] program and, for awhile there, it was quite a blow,” he said.
“I was recruited by NASA, and, eventually, I did get to fly, but to me, this was a valuable lesson: no matter how far along you are, you can meet with disappointment. And, too: stick with it, even after a disappointment, because you never know where hard work will bring you.”
For more information about this presentation or the lecture series, contact Margaret Ojala at 404.894.3002.
Prior to piloting several Space Shuttle missions, Capt. Crippen served on the ground crew for the Space Lab 2, 3 and 4 missions as well as the Apollo-Soyez Test Project. After retiring from active flight, Capt. Crippen served as the director of the Space Shuttle Program and as the director of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the recipient of a Congressional Medal of Honor, and has been inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame.
