NASA Astronaut Group 6



Astronaut Group 6 (the 'XS-11') was announced by NASA on August 11, 1967, the second group of scientist-astronauts. Only five of the eleven were given formal assignments in the Apollo Program, and these were all non-flying. Assignments for the group were delayed by the requirement to spend a full year at UPT to become qualified as jet pilots (as were the Group 4 scientists before them). This requirement for scientists to be trained as jet pilots was eventually lifted with the creation of the Mission Specialist position in the Shuttle Program. The seven members of Group 6 who stayed with the program after Apollo went on to form the core of Shuttle Mission Specialists, accomplishing a total of 15 flights.



Group members

 * Joseph Allen (born 1937), Nuclear Physicist (2 flights)
 * STS-5 — November 1982 — Mission specialist — SBS-C and Anik C-3 satellite deployment mission
 * STS-51-A — November 1984 — Mission specialist — Anik D-2 and Syncom IV-1 satellite deployment; Westar 6 and Palapa B2 satellite retrieval mission


 * Philip Chapman (born 1935), Aerospace Engineer
 * Served as mission scientist for Apollo 14, but left NASA in July 1972 due to lack of spaceflight opportunities. First Australian American to be selected as an astronaut.


 * Anthony W. England (born 1942), Geochemist (1 flight)
 * STS-51-F — July 1985 — Mission specialist — Spacelab mission


 * Karl Henize (1926–1993), Astronomer (1 flight)
 * STS-51-F — July 1985 — Mission specialist — Spacelab mission


 * Donald Holmquest (born 1939), Physician/Physiologist
 * Completed initial training and work on Skylab habitability systems and medical experiments, but left NASA in September 1973 following two extended leaves (encompassing postdoctoral training in nuclear medicine at Baylor University) due to lack of spaceflight opportunities.


 * William Lenoir (1939–2010), Electrical Engineer/Computer Scientist (1 flight)
 * STS-5 — November 1982 — Mission specialist — SBS-C and Anik C-3 satellite deployment mission


 * Anthony Llewellyn (1933–2013), Chemical Engineer/Bioelectrochemist
 * Resigned from NASA in September 1968 for personal reasons; first Welsh American to be selected as an astronaut.


 * Story Musgrave (born 1935), Physician, U.S. Marine Corps (6 flights)
 * STS-6 — April 1983 — Mission specialist — TDRS A satellite deployment mission
 * STS-51-F — July 1985 — Mission specialist — Spacelab mission
 * STS-33 — November 1989 — Mission specialist — United States Department of Defense mission; deployed USA-48 (Magnum 2)
 * STS-44 — November 1991 — Mission specialist — United States Department of Defense mission; deployed a DSP satellite
 * STS-61 — December 1993 — Payload commander — Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission # 1
 * STS-80 — November 1996 — Mission specialist — Wake Shield Facility, ORFEUS-SPAS II, and EDO mission
 * First of the group to be assigned to a backup crew (Skylab 2).


 * Brian O%27Leary (1940–2011), Astronomer
 * Resigned from NASA in April 1968 due to objections to perceived flight training hazards.


 * Robert Parker (born 1936), Astronomer (2 flights)
 * STS-9 — November 1983 — Mission specialist — Spacelab mission
 * STS-35 — December 1990 — Mission specialist — Spacelab mission


 * William Thornton (born 1929), Physician, U.S. Air Force (2 flights)
 * STS-8 — August 1983 — Mission specialist — INSAT-1B satellite deployment mission
 * STS-51-B — April 1985 — Mission specialist — Spacelab mission