Group 7 (1969 MOL Transfer)
Bob Crippen
Pilot of the shuttle’s first flight; went on to command three more.
Bob Crippen transferred to NASA from the cancelled Air Force Manned Orbiting Laboratory program and waited twelve years for his first flight — then drew the plum assignment in history: pilot of STS-1, the space shuttle’s maiden voyage, alongside John Young in 1981.
He commanded three shuttle missions in quick succession, including the first with a five-person crew and the first Challenger flight to deploy and retrieve a satellite, and later served as director of the Kennedy Space Center.