Top 10 Apollo Astronauts

I love Top 10 lists. I don’t know why, but I’ve always loved ranking things from best to worst…..songs, movies, etc. It allows me to have order in my world, even just for a couple of minutes.

So….why make a top 10 list for such a weird topic? I am obsessed with the Space program from 1958 – 1975. I’ve read at least 50 books, including all of the autobiographies of the astronauts and flight directors. I’ve actually been putting this together for years…..it’s something I work on in my head when I can’t sleep or I have a long car ride. This seemed to be as good a place as any to finally publish my work.

And…more than any other time….this blog entry will probably be something that only interests me. But, that’s okay.

Oh…before I get started, let me put down the ground rules. The Apollo flights had 3 man crews, and there were 11 flights, so that means 33 people had seats in the command module. Four astronauts went on two missions, so we’re down to 29. I decided that to be in the top 10, you had to have flown in space at least twice….so that pares that number down to 15. Fifteen astronauts who flew in the Apollo program flew at least one other time (mostly in the Gemini program that proceeded Apollo). Here is the top 10 based on my perception of their achievements.

10). Wally Schirra – I had to include the only man to fly in Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo. Wally did a phenomenal job in Mercury and was the first astronaut to fly a true rendezvous when Gemini 6 came within 12 inches of Gemini 7. His 11 day mission shaking out the Apollo Command Module set the stage for the Apollo 8’s lunar voyage….but he alienated a bunch of people at NASA by announcing his retirement 3 weeks before the mission, then being difficult and insubordinate to mission control.

9). Michael Collins – The most amiable of the three Apollo 11 astronauts, he was often referred to as the forgotten one as he was the person who was not going to walk on the moon. Most people don’t know he did a lot for learning how to walk in space with his two walks on Gemini 10. The son and nephew of Army Generals, Mike was always a family man. He was offered the job of backup Commander of Apollo 14, which would have given him the opportunity to walk on the moon as Commander of Apollo 17, but he turned it down to spend more time with his wife and kids. He was the first Director of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

8). John Young – First man to go to space 6 times. He rode with Gus Grissom in the inaugural voyage of Gemini, and caught hell for bringing a pastrami sandwich on board. He served as the Commander of Gemini 10 with Michael Collins, and was the Command Module Pilot for the moon landing rehearsal flight on Apollo 10. He finally got to walk on the moon on Apollo 16 at the Descartes Highlands. Later John was the Commander for the first Space Shuttle space flight and the first Spacelab flight on the shuttle.

7). Alan Sheppard – Would probably have been the first man on the moon if he didn’t have an inner ear problem that grounded him from 1962 – 1970. First American in space was in charge of the Astronaut office until he got back on flight status after a revolutionary surgery. He ruffled a lot of feathers bwhen he was immediately being assigned to command Apollo 13, jumping over everyone including a very angry Gordon Cooper, another of the original 7. Nasa headquarters determined he needed more training time and made his crew switch with Jim Lovells……leaving Jim on unlucky 13, and leaving 14 for Alan. Hit the most famous golf shot in history on the moon.

6). Tom Stafford – Rode shotgun with Wally Schirra during the first rendezvous on Gemini 6, then immediately got into the command seat on Gemini 9 when Elliot See crashed his T-38 weeks before his mission, and Tom was his backup. He developed a reputation for being snakebit as his first two flights (Gemini 6 and 9) both were postponed while he was in the capsule and ready to go. He was the first astronaut to fly the lunar module in lunar orbit. Was the final commander in the Apollo program when he flew the Apollo Soyuz Test Mission in 1975.

5). Neil Armstrong – Most people would think this was way too low a ranking for the most famous astronaut of all time. Neil became the first and only Commander to have the least amount of space experience during Apollo 11 as Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin both flew Gemini missions. Neil almost single handedly saved the space program during Gemini 8 when a malfunctioning thruster put his capsule in a violent roll. His calm and quick thinking saved disaster by using the reentry ring to stabilize the ship. While most people gave Apollo 11 a 50% chance for success, he was able to land on the moon and complete his mission despite having computer problems during powered descent, and coming within 20 seconds of aborting due to low fuel.

4). Alan Bean – He almost didn’t fly Apollo and was the last man of the 14 astronauts that made up the third class to be assigned a flight. It took the death of CC Williams in another plane crash to allow Pete Conrad to bring Al to the moon on Apollo 12. He was the only Lunar Module Pilot to actually fly the LEM as Pete gave him the controls on the backside of the moon. He was the Commander of Skylab 3, and he completed an amazing array of medical and scientific experiments in the two months his crew was there.

3). Jim Lovell – Jim is most famous for being the Commander on the Successful failure mission…Apollo 13. He kept his crew alive and performed tasks and flight adjustments as needed to get them home. It was an amazing display of cool in the face of danger and how important the training was for astronauts on everything that could possibly go wrong. Jim was also the pilot on Gemini 7, the longest space mission until Skylab 2, six years later. He Commanded Gemini 12 withg Buzz Aldrin, which was the flight that demonstrated techniques and equipment to easily walk in space. He also served as Command Module Pilot during Apollo 8, replacing Mike Collins who needed back surgery. Most people are not aware that Jim completed his NASA career managing the geology back room for later Apollo missions.

2) Dave Scott – Dave gets this high a ranking simply because he Commanded the most successful geological mission in the entire Apollo program. After being the pilot of Gemini 8 with Neil Armstrong, which was aborted after 10 hours, and Apollo 9, which he was the Command Module Pilot during the test flight of the LEM, he started getting ready for his moon mission as Backup Commanded of Apollo 12, then Commander of Apollo 15. Dave made himself into a talented Geologic observer, and became dedicated to ensuring his mission would focus on science. He was the first person to drive the Lunar Rover, and personally discovered the most important rock brought back from the moon, The Genesis Rock that is believed to be a piece of the moon’s primordial crust.

1). Pete Conrad – Pete is the only astronaut to have flown in Gemini, Apollo, and Skylab. He was the pilot on Gemini 5, NASA’s first attempt at a long duration flight lasting 8 days. It was also the first flight that used a fuel cell instead of batteries. He commanded Gemini 11 was a successful mission that included multiple docking and space walks, and took their capsule and the Agenda docking vehicle into high earth orbit. He was assigned to be the backup Commander of Apollo 8, which would have made him the Commander for Apollo 11 and in line to be the first man on the moon. Because of deadline issues getting the Lunar Module ready to fly, the Apollo 8 mission was rewritten to being a circumlunar flight without the LEM. The crews of Apollo 8 and 9 were switched so the expertise of flying the LEM wasn’t lost for its maiden voyage, now assigned to 9. Still…..most people were betting that the first landing wouldn’t occur until 12, but everything went perfectly for the prior missions leaving Neil and not Pete as the first moonwalker. Pete Conrad was the third person to walk on the moon on Apollo 12, landing his LEM less than 300 yards away from his target. Amazingly. He was able to complete the mission after his vehicle was struck by lightning twice during their launch. Pete was then assigned to be the Commander of the first Skylab mission. During launch, Skylab suffered severe damage including loss of its micrometeoroid screen and one of its main solar panels. Pete and his crew completely reconfigured their mission, and performed extensive repairs making the space station inhabitable for his crew and the two following missions. The work of his crew during multiple space walks set the stage for work done during space shuttle mission, including repairs of the ISS and the Hubble Telescope.

Well that’s my top 10……did anyone actually make it this far in my musings?