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Robert L. Crippen
Born (1937-09-11) September 11, 1937 (age 87)
Beaumont, Texas, U.S.
StatusRetired
NationalityAmerican
Other namesRobert Laurel Crippen
Alma materUniversity of Texas at Austin, B.S. 1960
Occupation(s)Naval aviator, test pilot
Awards Congressional Space Medal of Honor
Space career
USAF / NASA Astronaut
Rank Captain, USN
Time in space
23d 13h 46m
Selection1966 USAF MOL Group 2
1969 NASA Group 7
MissionsSTS-1, STS-7, STS-41-C, STS-41-G
Mission insignia
RetirementDecember 31, 1991

Robert Laurel Crippen (born September 11, 1937) is an American retired naval officer and aviator, test pilot, aerospace engineer, and retired astronaut. He traveled into space four times: as Pilot of STS-1 in April 1981, the first Space Shuttle mission; and as Commander of STS-7 in June 1983, STS-41-C in April 1984, and STS-41-G in October 1984. Crippen received the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

Crippen participated in the recovery operations for the remains of crew members after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.[1]

Early life and education

Robert Crippen was born September 11, 1937, in Beaumont, Texas.[2] After graduating from New Caney High School in New Caney, Texas in 1955, Crippen received a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1960.[2][3][4] He was selected as a member of the Texas Alpha chapter of Tau Beta Pi and Sigma Gamma Tau.[5]

Crippen always knew that he wanted to fly and to work on computers. He attended the first computer programming class held at the University of Texas. Throughout his career in the military and at NASA, he worked on computer programming, including programs such as the Manned Orbiting Laboratory, Skylab and the Space Shuttle.[6]

Military career

Crippen was commissioned through the United States Navy's Aviation Officer Candidate School (AOCS) Program at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida.[2] He continued his flight training at Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Florida, and went from there to Naval Air Station Chase Field in Beeville, Texas, where he received his wings. As a Naval Aviator from June 1962 to November 1964, he made two deployments aboard the aircraft carrier USS Independence, flying the A-4 Skyhawk in Attack Squadron 72 (VA-72). He later attended the U.S. Air Force Aerospace Research Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California. Upon graduation, he remained at Edwards as an instructor until he was picked for the USAF Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) spaceflight program in October 1966.[2]

He has logged more than 6,500 hours flying time, which includes more than 5,500 hours in jet aircraft.[3]

Crippen with a MOL spacesuit

Manned Orbiting Laboratory

The Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) program was a follow-on to the X-20 Dyna-Soar program. A joint program between the United States Air Force and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), the MOL program would send humans into space.[7]

According to a December 1963 press release, “The MOL program, which will consist of an orbiting pressurized cylinder approximately the size of a small house trailer, will increase the Defense Department effort to determine military usefulness of man in space…MOL will be designed so that astronauts can move about freely in it without a space suit and conduct observations and experiments in the laboratory over a period of up to one month."[8] But, the public announcement was different from the true mission. The astronauts were to perform reconnaissance missions on Russia and China. The pilots were not told of this true mission when they were selected. According to test pilot Albert Crews, “They told us that we were going to be flying a smaller vehicle and wouldn’t be doing anything but flying radar, looking at the ground and taking pictures. They told us it would be a smaller lab to begin with, then indicated that it was highly classified and if anybody changed their mind, they could opt out and it wouldn’t be held against them."[9]

According to Crippen, “The opportunity came to apply both to NASA and the military, because the military was doing a man in space program called the Manned Orbiting Laboratory [MOL]. I applied for both. At some point in the process I had to decide one way or the other and ended up picking MOL, because I thought NASA had more astronauts than they knew what to do with, and the [Apollo] program, even though it hadn’t started, it was already starting to have some of the flights canceled. Ended up being selected for MOL, and sure enough, after a couple of years on that program, it got canceled. Was lucky enough to get transferred over to NASA, along with six of my cohorts that were crew members on MOL."[6]

There was an uncrewed flight on November 3, 1966, but no crews flew a mission for the MOL program. The program was cancelled in June of 1969.[7]

NASA career

We were flying on a winged vehicle that would do reentry different than we had ever done before. So all of those were firsts. Test pilots truly love firsts.

—Crippen's Shuttle experiences[10]

After the MOL program was cancelled, Crippen became part of NASA Astronaut Group 7 in September 1969.[2] He served on the astronaut support crew for the Skylab 2, Skylab 3, and Skylab 4 missions, and for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project mission.[2]

Skylab Medical Experiment Altitude Test (SMEAT)

The Skylab Medical Experiment Altitude Test (SMEAT) was a 56-day mission (July 26 through September 19, 1972), where Crippen, Karol Bobko and William Thornton were housed in a vacuum chamber to conduct medical experiments. [6]

According to Crippen, “[It was] a small vacuum chamber over in Building 7. It was primarily to get what I would call the ground truth for the [medical] experiments. Everything was the same, including the atmosphere, except we weren’t in microgravity… The plan was, and I guess we were the leaders, to make sure that the crews, since they were going to be in orbit for a long time, could deal with what I would call minor medical emergencies, and part of that was to send us off to dentistry school. We ended up San Antonio [Texas] at the Air Force hospital there. In fact, Bo Bobko and I did extract several teeth.” [6]

SMEAT also was able to discover and fix the design flaws in the urine handling system for Skylab. [11] According to Crippen, “Well, the urine collection system on board was very vital to Skylab, because they needed to sample the urine and freeze it, and bring it back and those kind of things. It was sized too small and one burst in the chamber, which was not fun. But as a result of that, the system became larger.” [6]

Apollo-Soyuz Test Project

The Apollo-Soyuz test project was a joint effort between the United States and the Soviet Union, designed to test rendezvous and docking capabilities if there were ever an emergency in space. [12]

Crippen was the capsule communicator (CAPCOM) for the Apollo-Soyuz project (as well as Sylab). According to Crippen, “I still think that today I have a close association with the folks from Mission Ops and Flight Control. They’re what keeps you safe when you’re flying. You’ve got lots of eyeballs looking at you.” [6]

On July 15, 1975, the United States launched a Saturn IB rocket in an Apollo configuration into space. Two days later, it docked with a Soyuz spacecraft. [12]

Approach and Landing Test (ALT)

The Approach and Landing tests for the Space Shuttle were critical to the overall program. This is where a crew tested the maneuverability and landing capabilities of the spacecraft. Launched from a 747 aircraft, the prototype space shuttle Enterprise was first tested on August 12, 1977. Astronauts Fred Haise and Gordon Fullerton piloted the Enterprise from about 24,000 feet to the ground and landed at Edwards Air Force Base. A second crew of astronauts Joe Engle and Richard Truly alternated with Haise and Fullerton to test the Enterprise’s capabilities. [13]

Crippen was first assigned to family support with the testing, but then progressed to being a chase pilot. According to Crippen, "I was assigned as a chase pilot for the Approach and Landing Test, flying in a T-38 [training aircraft] alongside the vehicles as they popped off the 747. But my first assignment on the very first drop, which Fred [W.] Haise [Jr.] and [Charles] Gordon [“Gordo”] Fullerton were doing, was family escort. On all missions it’s been tradition that, with the spouses, that we have an astronaut there, primarily to keep them informed of what’s going on, but also in case some contingency arises, you can help them with that. So I was out there with all the wives, not only for Fred and Gordo, but also the wives of the crews on the 747, and it was fun to get to watch it."[6]

The ALT program lasted about a year, testing everything from aerodynamics to maneuverability, gliding and landing characteristics. [14]

STS-1

Main article: STS-1
John Young and Crippen suiting up for the STS-1 mission

Crippen was the pilot on STS-1, the first orbital test flight of the Space Shuttle. [15] According to Crippen, "we use the terms commander and pilot to confuse everybody, and it’s really because none of us red-hot test pilots want to be called a copilot. In reality, the commander is the pilot, and the pilot is a copilot, kind of like a first officer if you’re flying on a commercial airliner. So my job on this particular mission was primarily systems oriented, working the computers, working the electrical systems, working the auxiliary power units, doing the payload bay doors. However, I was also trained to fly the vehicle if that should be necessary. So usually when you’re flying an airplane, you don’t have as many systems to worry about, or they’re much simpler, and you’re also doing the piloting. Most of my career was spent in single-piloted airplanes. I didn’t fly with copilots, so it was different from that aspect. But the vehicle is such that you need two people, or more, if you can get them."[6]

It was also the first manned vehicle to be flown into orbit without previous unmanned orbital testing and the first winged manned vehicle to launch with solid rocket boosters.[15] It was also the first winged reentry vehicle to return to a conventional runway landing. The mission lasted 54 hours, 20 minutes, 53 seconds.[16]

STS-7

Main article: STS-7

Crippen served as the commander of STS-7, which was the second flight for the Orbiter Challenger. This was also the first mission with a five-person crew. During the six-day flight, the crew deployed satellites for Canada (ANIK C-2) and Indonesia (PALAPA B-1); operated the Canadian-built Remote Manipulator System (RMS) to perform the first deployment and retrieval exercise with the Shuttle Pallet Satellite (SPAS-01); conducted the first formation flying of the orbiter with a free-flying satellite (SPAS-02); carried and operated the first U.S./German cooperative materials science payload (OSTA-2); and operated the Continuous Flow Electrophoresis System (CFES) and the Monodisperse Latex Reactor (MLR) experiments, in addition to activating seven Getaway Specials. The mission duration was 146 hours, 23 minutes, 59 seconds.

STS-41-C

Main article: STS-41-C

Crippen was the commander on STS-41-C, which was a seven-day mission during which the crew deployed the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF); retrieved the ailing Solar Maximum Satellite, repaired it aboard the orbiting Challenger, and replaced it in orbit using the robot arm called the Remote Manipulator System (RMS); flight tested the Manned Maneuvering Units (MMU's) in two extravehicular activities (EVA); as well as operating the Cinema 360 and IMAX Camera Systems, and running a Bee Hive Honeycomb Structures student experiment. Mission duration was 167 hours, 40 minutes, 07 seconds.

STS-41-G

Main article: STS-41-G

On his final spaceflight, Crippen served as the commander of STS-41-G. During the eight-day flight, the crew deployed the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite, conducted scientific observations of the Earth with the OSTA-3 pallet and Large Format Camera, and demonstrated potential satellite refueling with an EVA and associated hydrazine transfer. Mission duration was 8 days, 5 hours, 23 minutes, 33 seconds and concluded with a landing at Kennedy Space Center, Florida.[17]

Post-spaceflight career

After STS-41-G, Crippen was named Commander of the STS-62-A mission which would have launched from the new SLC-6 facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. That mission was cancelled after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster and SLC-6 was closed when the Air Force went back to launching satellites on the Titan III and Titan IV rockets.

Crippen was stationed at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, from July 1987 to December 1989, as Deputy Director, Shuttle Operations for NASA Headquarters. He was responsible for final Shuttle preparation, mission execution and return of the orbiter to KSC after landings at Edwards Air Force Base. From January 1990 to January 1992, he served as Director, Space Shuttle, at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. As such, he was responsible for the overall Shuttle program requirements, performance, and total program control, including budget, schedule and program content. He subsequently served as the Director of the Kennedy Space Center from January 1992 to January 1995.

Post-NASA career

After leaving NASA, Crippen served as a Vice President with Lockheed Martin Information Systems in Orlando, Florida, from April 1995 to November 1996. From December 1996 to April 2001, Crippen was President of Thiokol Propulsion, which produced the Space Shuttle Reusable Solid Rocket Motors and other defense and commercial solid rocket motors.[18]

Organizations

He is a fellow in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, American Astronautical Society, and Society of Experimental Test Pilots.[3] He served as President of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 1999.[19] He was selected to be a member of Naval Aviators Golden Eagles in 2009. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2012.[20]

Awards and honors

Sign of Crippen Elementary School in Porter, Texas, named after Robert Crippen

Crippen's accomplishments have earned him many notable awards, including the 1981 SETP Iven C. Kincheloe Award[21] and the NASA Exceptional Service Medal in 1972. In 1981 after the inaugural Space Shuttle flight, he received the Department of Defense Distinguished Service Award, the American Astronautical Society's Flight Achievement Award, the National Geographic Society's Gardiner Greene Hubbard Medal, and the American Legion's Distinguished Service Medal. In 1982 he won the Federal Aviation Administration's Award for Distinguished Service, the Dr. Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy and the Harmon Trophy. In 1984 he received the Navy Distinguished Flying Cross and the Defense Meritorious Service Medal.[22] In 1986, Crippen received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.[23]

He also received NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal in 1988, four NASA Space Flight Medals in 1981, 1983 and twice in 1984, and three NASA Distinguished Service Medals in 1985, 1988, and 1993. In 1996, Crippen became the tenth individual to receive the Rotary National Award for Space Achievement's National Space Trophy. He was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame in 1991 and the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in 2001.[10][24] On April 6, 2006, he received the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, the highest award for spaceflight achievement.[25]

On November 18, 2015, at the National Business Aviation Association convention in Las Vegas, Crippen was announced as a 2016 Inductee into the National Aviation Hall of Fame.[26]

Personal life

Crippen's first marriage to Virginia Hill produced three daughters: Ellen Marie (born June 1962), Susan Lynn (born December 1964), and Linda Ruth (born May 1967).[2] His second marriage is to Pandora Lee Puckett of Miami, Florida, NASA's first female lead Orbiter Project Engineer on the Space Shuttle Atlantis and Challenger at the Kennedy Space Center.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Chapter 6: Raising heroes from the sea". 25 January 2006.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Robert L. Crippen". New York Times. April 13, 1981. Retrieved January 21, 2018.
  3. ^ a b c "Robert Crippen NASA Biography". NASA. 11 February 2015. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
  4. ^ Alumni Profile Robert L. Crippen, BS ASE 1960 – website of the University of Texas at Austin
  5. ^ "Astronauts & Flight Scientists". Tau Beta Pi. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h "NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project: Robert L. Crippen". NASA. 26 May 2006. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  7. ^ a b "Manned Orbiting Laboratory Declassified Photos". Space.com. 4 March 2017. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
  8. ^ "The DORIAN Files Revealed: A Compendium of the NRO's Manned Orbiting Laboratory Documents" (PDF). National Reconnaissance Office. 1 August 2015. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
  9. ^ "Biography Albert H. Crews" (PDF). Kenneth R. Crippen. 4 January 2020. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
  10. ^ a b "Piloted the first space shuttle". New Mexico Museum of Space History. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
  11. ^ "SMEAT-Space Patches". A-B Emblem. 21 December 2020. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
  12. ^ a b "Apollo-Soyuz Test Project Overview". NASA. 3 August 2017. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
  13. ^ "Enterprise: The Test Shuttle". Space.com. 9 October 2012. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
  14. ^ "Space Shuttle Approach and Landing Tests (ALT)". NASA. 7 February 2013. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
  15. ^ a b "Flying Machine". Star-Gazette. April 15, 1982. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "STS-1 Overview". NASA. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  17. ^ "41-G (13)". NASA. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  18. ^ "CRIPPEN JOINS THIOKOL AS ITS PRESIDENT". Deseret News. October 22, 1996. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
  19. ^ "AIAA Leadership". AIAA. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  20. ^ "Alumnus Bob Crippen Elected to National Academy of Engineering". February 27, 2012. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  21. ^ "Iven C Kincheloe Recipients". Society of Experimental Test Pilots. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  22. ^ "Robert L. Crippen CAPT USN (Ret.)" (PDF). The Golden Eagles. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  23. ^ "Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement". www.achievement.org. American Academy of Achievement.
  24. ^ "Robert Crippen". Astronaut Scholarship Foundation. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
  25. ^ "First Shuttle Pilot Crippen Gets Congressional Space Medal of Honor". NASA. April 27, 2006. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
  26. ^ "Robert Crippen". The National Aviation Hall of Fame. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
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