posted 07-18-2021 09:07 AM               

To get it started:

• Alan Shepard - First American and Apollo 14
  
• John Young - Gemini, Apollo and shuttle
  
• Eileen Collins - First women shuttle commander
  
• Neil Armstrong - no explanation needed

posted 07-18-2021 10:05 AM               

I would add Sally Ride to the mountain as my fourth astronaut.

posted 07-18-2021 10:37 AM               

• John Glenn - defined the "right stuff," and then led NASA toward becoming science-driven after the space race was won.

• John Young - trailblazed in space but more importantly, shaped the NASA safety culture on Earth.

• Sally Ride - redefined the "right stuff" but more importantly, led NASA's direction after tragedies and in the face of floundering goals.

• Peggy Whitson - redefined the role of an astronaut both in space and on the ground.

If open to everyone who contributed to the U.S. space program, then:

• Dwight Eisenhower, George Low, James Webb and Lori Garver

posted 07-18-2021 02:27 PM            

A hard choice between Al Shepard and John Glenn, but on balance, as first American in space, as a chief of the Astronaut Office and as a Moonwalker, Shepard gets my vote.

Thus:

• Alan Shepard: see above;

• Frank Borman: leader of the first expedition to leave Earth and visit another world - should be a shoo-in;

• Neil Armstrong: no justification necessary;

• John Young: the astronauts' astronaut, spanning Gemini, Apollo, and shuttle.

posted 07-19-2021 02:35 PM            

• Alan Shepard - First American in space
  
• John Glenn - First American to orbit
  
• Neil Armstrong - First man on the Moon
  
• John Young - One of our most experienced spacefarers and helped usher in a new era of space flight

posted 07-19-2021 06:17 PM               

• Moe Howard, CDR of 1st crew to land on Venus
  
• Larry Fine, XO of 1st crew to land on Venus
  
• Lou Costello, 1st crew to land on Mars?
  
• Bud Abbott, 1st crew to land on Mars?

posted 07-19-2021 07:20 PM               

Astronauts, in general, are somewhat one-dimensional when it comes to what lasting contributions they made to the space program. This is, in part, because NASA from the start has drilled in the idea that any astronaut could fly on any mission and do just as good a job. They are interchangeable. (Of course, that is not exactly true, but it is how NASA has approached its corps.)

posted 07-20-2021 11:40 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
Peggy Whitson - redefined the role of an astronaut both in space and on the ground.

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posted 07-20-2021 12:53 PM               

• Robert Goddard
  
• Theodore Von Karman
  
• Bernard Schriever
  
• Dwight Eisenhower

• Honor Mention: Wernher von Braun

posted 07-20-2021 01:31 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by RobertB:
Can you elaborate on this please?

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posted 07-20-2021 02:34 PM               

This topic is indeed a tough one to tackle, however, in considering the world's top aerospace leaders and pioneers of spaceflight during the last 100 years or so, here are just a few highlight names;

posted 07-20-2021 10:57 PM               

• Alan Shepard for being the first American to ride a converted ballistic missile to the edge of space. While there were others in line for the same seat, Shepard was the first.

• John Glenn for being the first to orbit the Earth.

• John Young for being part of the first Gemini crew, the First to solo the moon, and the first STS launch and flight.

• Neil Armstrong for his pilot skill and taking that first one small step.

• Bruce McCandless for making the first untethered spacewalk.

posted 07-21-2021 10:41 AM            

The obvious choice who would clearly pass the test is Neil Armstrong. I also suggest that in 200 years, anyone who still rejoices in the fact that the United States was a land built by pioneers would understand the inclusion of the pioneer who successfully led humanity's first expedition to leave the Earth and visit another celestial body. (Frank Borman always said he did it to beat the Russians, but that takes nothing from the wider achievement, and there are those who suggest that Apollo 8 was actually the most important mission of Project Apollo. On that, I offer no opinion.)

Sorry, but I just don't think John Glenn makes the cut. The wave of national pride which is obvious from 1962 newsreels will not last 200 years. Future observers would surely ask: "Was he the first human in space?" (No). "Was he the first American in space?" (No). Whether Alan Shepard's achievement as "first American in space" would be considered enough on its own is an interesting question, but of course he was the one member of that first group of 7 pioneers who also commanded a lunar landing mission.