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Author
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Topic: Apollo Flight Crew Designations
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Machodoc
Member Posts: 207
From: DE
Registered: Aug 2005
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posted 06-18-2007 10:00 PM
   
When at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex and the Astronaut Hall of Fame I noticed descriptions of the Apollo 1 crew that listed Ed White as the "Senior Pilot" instead of the Command Module Pilot. Was there a different nomenclature in place before the fire? |
heng44
Member Posts: 3413
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001
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posted 06-19-2007 12:04 AM
Yes, that was the nomenclature for the Block I missions. Command Pilot, Senior Pilot and Pilot. |
robsouth
Member Posts: 769
From: West Midlands, UK
Registered: Jun 2005
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posted 06-19-2007 10:38 AM
I have always considered Commander - Navigator - Systems Engineer to be better titles for the roles of the Apollo astonauts. Just when did the LMP ever fly the LM? |
GACspaceguy
Member Posts: 2516
From: Guyton, GA
Registered: Jan 2006
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posted 06-19-2007 11:14 AM
A couple of years ago, I had the opportunity to ask Charlie Duke (Apollo 16 LMP) if John Young (Apollo 16 Commander) flew the LM all the way to touchdown. Mr. Duke said that although Young did fly the final touchdown, he (Duke) did fly the LM for part of the approach. |
garymilgrom
Member Posts: 1966
From: Atlanta, GA
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 06-19-2007 01:09 PM
I've read that Pete Conrad turned over the controls to Alan Bean behind the moon. I've not heard of another instance of the LMP actually flying the LEM (except for above post).The crew designations of above (navigator etc.) seem much better to me. The NASA designations seemed designed to fill one objective only - which was not to designate anyone as a co-pilot. |
Lou Chinal
Member Posts: 1332
From: Staten Island, NY
Registered: Jun 2007
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posted 06-19-2007 01:42 PM
NASA had yet to dream up the term Command Module Pilot. I always got a kick out of the fact that Walt Cunningham and Bill Anders were Lunar Module pilots without the lunar module. |
kr4mula
Member Posts: 642
From: Cinci, OH
Registered: Mar 2006
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posted 06-20-2007 11:18 AM
quote:
Originally posted by robsouth:
I have always considered Commander - Navigator - Systems Engineer to be better titles for the roles of the Apollo astronauts.
I strongly suspect no astronaut wanted to fly a space mission under any title other than "pilot." In the military, you don't have to be flight rated to be a Navigator or Systems Engineer. Those jobs are meant for the guys who couldn't hack becoming pilots, right? The use of those titles might imply some inferiority on whoever was in those roles. After all, the astronauts at that point were still all pilots by trade. Notice that they never used "co-pilot" either? |
Whizzospace
Member Posts: 110
From: San Antonio, TX
Registered: Jan 2006
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posted 06-20-2007 06:44 PM
True they aren't considered "top of the heap" in the flying business, but USAF Navigator and USN Flight Officer are actual aeronautical ratings. |
kr4mula
Member Posts: 642
From: Cinci, OH
Registered: Mar 2006
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posted 06-21-2007 12:26 PM
Sorry, imprecise wording on my part. I meant that Navigators (and Flight Officers, I assume - I'm more familiar with Air Force) don't have to be rated as pilots. |
NAAmodel#240
Member Posts: 315
From: Boston, Mass.
Registered: Jun 2005
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posted 06-21-2007 04:33 PM
There is a distinction in the Air Force between being flight crew and being "rated". As a Senior Flight Nurse I am on aeronautical orders (AO), draw flight pay, and earn aviation awards and decorations (like the Air Medal and Aerial Achievement Medal, for example). Only some on AO are in rated positions. These include; Pilot, Navigator, Air Battle Manager, and others. |
Tom
Member Posts: 1610
From: New York
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 08-15-2009 11:28 AM
Anyone here know why NASA stuck with the Lunar Module Pilot assignment for Apollo 7 and 8? Seems odd that an astronaut was given the title of a vehicle that wasn't even flying.In my opinion, they could have been called: Commander, Command Module Pilot and Pilot. In fact the Apollo Block 1 series of missions would have used similar assignments: Commander, Senior Pilot and Pilot. Editor's note: Threads merged. |
Delta7
Member Posts: 1527
From: Bluffton IN USA
Registered: Oct 2007
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posted 08-15-2009 11:50 AM
It also causes misconception among the general public. I've heard a few people assume Buzz Aldrin actually landed the LM because he was the "lunar module pilot" for instance, while presumably Neil Armstrong as commander simply did... something else. Same is true for the Space Shuttle Pilot designation. Even in the media at times. |
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