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Author
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Topic: Concerns about space author David Baker
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Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 46009
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 03-25-2021 02:51 PM
   
Today (March 25), the British Interplanetary Society (BIS) posted the following notice on Twitter: David Baker has tendered his resignation as Editor of our SpaceFlight magazine. The BIS has accepted this, and will announce a new interim Editor to take on the role from the June 2021 issue. Baker's resignation follows concerns that were first raised privately and then publicly by journalist and author David Whitehouse about the validity of Baker's self-described experiences in and around the Apollo program. In November 2019, Whitehouse sent an 11-page letter to the BIS leadership that thoroughly laid out why many of the claims Baker made in BIS talks and in print merited question. Whitehouse has now made some of that letter public, including: I know I am not the only one who has over the years looked at the professional claims made by David Baker, the editor of the BIS Spaceflight magazine, with more than a little bafflement. Such a feeling has only increased given the spate of remarkable new claims made by him during the anniversary celebrations for Apollo 11. To have had so much new and extraordinary information about him come out this year and in his lectures to the BIS since he became editor of Spaceflight, makes one wonder why such interesting and newsworthy experiences have been unmentioned for half-a-century by a space journalist and writer! But my confusion goes deeper...The information David Baker has given publicly (especially in his online lectures to the BIS, in podcasts, and the many biographies and interviews associated with his books and activities), if taken at face-value show Dr Baker to be one of the most, if not the most, remarkable space engineer and scientist ever. In my many decades of experience I have come across none other who approaches Dr Baker's achievements and experience as he has described them. Among some of Baker's claims raised by Whitehouse: - In Baker's Haynes Manual on Apollo 13, he outlines the work he did at Mission Control. In "The History of Manned Spaceflight" published a decade earlier, there are 13 pages on Apollo 13 with no mention of his involvement. Also a press cutting from the time of the mission has him in the UK.
- Baker claims to have been involved in the 1984 Westar-Palapa satellite loss "because they recognised I was independent and would provide a fair assessment." The final report does not mention him. No one recalls him.
- How long did Baker work for NASA? In a British Interplanetary Society lecture in 2019, it was 25 years. For Higham Hall Study Centre it was 30 years. In Haynes Manuals it was 1965-1980. In New Scientist in the 80s it was 16 years. In a 1981 newspaper, it was for 5 years.
- For 42 years, Baker claimed or allowed others to identify him as having earned a doctorate. By his own admission, he never had a Ph.D. "Ever since 'The Rocket' [in 1978], he has been 'Dr. David Baker' in every book, article, interview and lecture for 40 years."
Whitehouse's list goes on, including Baker's access to the Mission Operations Control Room during the Apollo 11 moon landing and his self-described role as an advisor to the Reagan administration, when he said he was "closely involved with the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) and 'Star Wars' ballistic missile defense system." See Whitehouse's Twitter feed for more details. The BIS initially responded to Whitehouse's 2019 letter by stating they were "confident David Baker has not misled the BIS" and that "none of the allegations you have made against him affect our view and experience of him." After our investigation, it is clear to the Council, David Baker has done nothing untoward or anything that could be described in any way as dishonest or fraudulent in his dealings with the BIS. Further the BIS urged Whitehouse to remain silent. ...we would like to remind you that promulgating allegations of this kind could potentially place the Society at risk of having to protect its reputation. We would therefore have no hesitation instructing counsel to do this and any costs associated with such an action would be claimed against you. After Whitehouse went public with his findings this month, it created a stir within the space history community on Twitter, with others coming forward with information confirming Whitehouse's research.On March 21, the BIS acknowledged they were aware of the "hearsay allegations" shared on Twitter and that Baker "strenuously refuted" them, but the BIS Council "will reconsider any impact these allegations [have] on the Society." Four days later, Baker resigned. |
dom
Member Posts: 918
From:
Registered: Aug 2001
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posted 03-25-2021 03:37 PM
If these allegations are true, I find it bizarre that someone could base a whole writing career around such a monumental lie about their professional background and not be found out for so long. |
randy
Member Posts: 2414
From: West Jordan, Utah USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 03-25-2021 04:30 PM
As a member of the BIS, I'm appalled that this could happen to such a highly regarded space organization. I'll continue to be a member and support them, but I'll cast a more wary eye on the "Letter from the Editor" column. |
SkyMan1958
Member Posts: 1019
From: CA.
Registered: Jan 2011
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posted 03-25-2021 05:06 PM
I would think the simplest item to check on from Baker's claims would be whether he has a Ph.D. Further, I'm not talking about ABD (all but dissertation). There are plenty of Ph.D. students that completed their coursework, but never completed their dissertation. They are not Ph.D.'s. Baker either has a Ph.D., or he does not. If he has one, it is simple enough to check the University records of when it was granted. If he does not have one, and over time has claimed that he has one, then that would lead one to be much more suspicious of his other claims. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 46009
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 03-25-2021 06:15 PM
Baker said his Ph.D. is from Rice University. According to Whitehouse, "Rice University [has] no record of him." I knew people in their astronomy dept in the 70s (I was at Jodrell Bank and our paths crossed) and when Baker first claimed to have a PhD from them in 1978 no one there had heard of him. In 1978, Baker acknowledged in writing he didn't have a Ph.D., but that those marketing his books had exaggerated. Baker wrote then that he was going to have it corrected, but he continued to publish books with the Dr. title before his name. |
dom
Member Posts: 918
From:
Registered: Aug 2001
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posted 03-25-2021 07:00 PM
Never mind the morally dubious use of a fictitious title, we should be more concerned with the fact that Baker has used much of his work to write himself into the narrative by telling anyone who would listen that he was actually "in the room" at NASA during Apollo 11 and Apollo 13. If these claims are proven to be the work of a fantasist, his reputation is toast and his books should be binned. |
Ken Havekotte
Member Posts: 3211
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001
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posted 03-25-2021 07:43 PM
I can't recall meeting Baker if he had been at the Cape covering missions, however, in my younger high school and college years, I did enjoy his space books and his comprehensive research that went into them. His works, in some ways, reminds of my favorite all-time rocket history author Willy Ley.
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dom
Member Posts: 918
From:
Registered: Aug 2001
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posted 03-26-2021 02:40 AM
He might not even have been in the United States at the time. Letters recently discovered that were published in local UK newspapers in 1970 show he was living in England! |
nasamad
Member Posts: 2174
From: Essex, UK
Registered: Jul 2001
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posted 03-26-2021 09:21 AM
Looking like a sad state of affairs that apparently was brought to the attention of the BIS in 2019. A situation that they obviously need to publicly address.It wont lessen my enjoyment of Baker's books but will now cause me to doubt any personal anecdotes within them. |
spacehiker
Member Posts: 429
From: London, UK
Registered: Aug 2009
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posted 03-26-2021 11:58 AM
I hope that David Baker issues a statement addressing these allegations. It shouldn't though lessen the fact that David Baker has written many well researched and popular books on the space program and is am incredibly knowledgeable authority on it. The issue does appear to be being pursued with a real animosity. Surely there are more appropriate ways of addressing these issues without potentially utterly humiliating and destroying the entirety of David Baker's reputation? |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 46009
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 03-26-2021 12:30 PM
From what I understand, Whitehouse tried to contact Baker prior to writing the British Interplanetary Society and Baker never replied.As noted, Whitehouse's first approach with the BIS was to contact its leadership privately. The Society decided that no action was needed on their part and then seemed to threaten Whitehouse with legal action if he made any of his concerns public. At that point, what choice did Whitehouse have? Either he could just let the whole matter drop, knowing that Baker was continuing to make claims in talks and in his new books that were questionable, at best, or he could go public, which is what he chose to do. For his part, Baker had plenty of opportunities to address this privately, either when Whitehouse tried to contact him or during the time the BIS was aware of the concerns but had yet to reply to Whitehouse. At either of these points, Baker could have defended his account or make amends for past misdeeds and moved on quietly. And for what it is worth, many of the people who replied to Whitehouse, myself included, were dismayed by the whole situation. No one seems to have acted out of any spite or hate for Baker, but more so felt betrayed by someone who was seen as a trusted source. |
spacehiker
Member Posts: 429
From: London, UK
Registered: Aug 2009
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posted 03-26-2021 02:37 PM
It does seem incredible that someone who has been writing about space since at least the early 1980's and has been in the public eye of the space community since then has not been previously questioned to the extent he is now being about inaccuracies in his CV.This guy has been one of the most high profile and prolific space writers for decades and he has repeatedly made many of the disputed assertions. Why has this matter come to a head only recently and not say 10 years ago? Whilst I appreciate what you say Robert, it does seem from the nature of the posts made on twitter that there may be a personal nature to this dispute which may in part be motivating the action to expose David Baker by the lead protagonist. I should say I don't know David Baker and don't what the truth of the matter is but I do believe that you should be viewed as innocent until proven guilty and should not be effectively tried by the media/social media. We are hearing one side of the story which may/may not be true. I do appreciate that David Baker is not helping himself by remaining silent. |
Buel
Member Posts: 760
From: UK
Registered: Mar 2012
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posted 03-26-2021 05:46 PM
When, in 2015, I was planning to fly to the Cape and interview Don Arabian, I asked Baker if he would be interested in the interview.
He gave this reply: I am responding to your email to the BIS regarding an interview with a Mercury control systems engineer who also worked the evaluation room in Apollo. Maybe I know him from the Apollo days, as I was there at the time... |
sts205cdr
Member Posts: 696
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Jun 2001
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posted 03-26-2021 09:05 PM
Wow. Maybe he knew who Don Arabian was? That's just too much, in my book. Sad. |
Buel
Member Posts: 760
From: UK
Registered: Mar 2012
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posted 03-27-2021 01:43 AM
He certainly got about. He told me he met Kraft, too. Thanks for your message. Yes, I did meet Chris Kraft. Quite a character and a real force behind the buildup of Mission Control. But uncompromising and certainly what was needed at the time. |
Jonnyed
Member Posts: 488
From: Dumfries, VA, USA
Registered: Aug 2014
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posted 03-27-2021 12:04 PM
It is hard to get past the incontrovertible opening piece of evidence of letting publishing companies print his name a multitude of times with PhD honorifics when he never earned his PhD.It demonstrates a willingness to falsely aggrandize. I can't speak to extent but it's not a good inclination. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 46009
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 03-27-2021 12:33 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Buel:
He certainly got about. He told me he met Kraft, too.
To be fair, any journalist who covered Apollo at the Manned Spacecraft Center had a pretty good chance of meeting Kraft. So if Baker was in Houston for any of the missions, that particular detail might be true. |
jjknap
Member Posts: 281
From: Bourbonnais, IL USA
Registered: Apr 2011
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posted 03-27-2021 01:11 PM
For the life of me, I don't understand the negativity here about Baker. I have enjoyed his books since reading the History of Manned Spaceflight when I was in grade school, and I will continue to purchase his books as they cover topics which interest me. I could care less what his title is and who he met at the Cape and in Houston. I am looking forward to his book on the Saturn 1 now that the found a new publisher. |
cspg
Member Posts: 6249
From: Geneva, Switzerland
Registered: May 2006
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posted 03-27-2021 01:15 PM
Is the issue Mr Baker's résumé or his writings? If he did embellish his life, does that mean his work should be thrown with the garbage? Not that it's any excuse but if the whole idea is to hang someone to the nearest flagpole because he (presumable) lied about his life, then there will be a lot, really a lot, of hangings in the future (thanks to pseudo social media). |
Buel
Member Posts: 760
From: UK
Registered: Mar 2012
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posted 03-27-2021 01:29 PM
For context, other emails I had from him were; I was with NASA from the we early operational days of Gemini. I think, personally, what frustrated me when I was in contact with him was I felt he was leading me on: he ended one email when I asked about his time at NASA with "So many stories..." I replied a few times on this asking if he would elaborate but he never did. I thought it was strange how someone would offer that teaser but not nothing more. Now I know why. Does all this make him a bad person? Of course not. Does it give the right for some people to feel frustrated? I think so, yes. Obviously anyone is free to read and enjoy what you want of his, but read with an asterisk in mind. For example, see this Don Eyles' letter to the BIS, and linked on the website, concerning the Apollo 11 50th anniversary coverage written by Baker. It slams the coverage penned by him. |
PeterO
Member Posts: 425
From: North Carolina
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 03-27-2021 03:22 PM
quote:
Originally posted by jjknap:
I am looking forward to his book on the Saturn 1 now that the found a new publisher.
I too am looking forward to the Saturn 1 book. He isn't the first, and won't be the last, person who ever embellished their CV, but discovery of that embellishment generally results in termination. If the allegations are true, Crecy may not want their reputation potentially damaged by publishing his future works.
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Jonnyed
Member Posts: 488
From: Dumfries, VA, USA
Registered: Aug 2014
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posted 03-27-2021 04:43 PM
quote:
Originally posted by jjknap:
I could care less what his title is and who he met at the Cape and in Houston. I am looking forward to his book on the Saturn 1 now that the found a new publisher.
Your response points out the oddness of Baker's behavior: If people buying his books really don't care what his title is and who he met and how truthful his anecdotes are, then why does he do these things? What false advantage is he trying to gain through misrepresentation? Perhaps it's just a self-esteem character issue if there's nothing to gain.There's a lot of lying in society, that's true: I just bought a new car and the sales people were clearly lying to my face and they knew that I knew it. It didn't feel good but I still bought the car because I wanted it. Trust is a precarious balancing act. |
Rick Mulheirn
Member Posts: 4337
From: England
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 03-27-2021 05:19 PM
Personally, as a Fellow of The British Interplanetary I think David Baker must issue a statement setting out the facts, and an apology as required. Then the BIS a statement detailing what investigations (if any) were conducted in 2019 and details of events over recent days. A full and thorough explanation from both parties is essential.A protracted discussion fuelled largely by speculation and hear say does nothing to restore the reputation of the society: a reputation that has undoubtedly been tarnished by the whole sorry saga. And then... move on! Might I suggest that our very own Dave Shayler be appointed editor of Spaceflight magazine. Dave's character, reputation, expertise and credentials are beyond reproach. |
Neil DC
Member Posts: 172
From: Middletown, NJ, USA
Registered: May 2010
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posted 03-28-2021 05:35 PM
As an almost 40 year member of the BIS and PhD in Organic chemistry, who has occasionally contributed to Spaceflight, I am disappointed for and with David Baker. But overall he was doing a good job editing this publication, in my view.Now moving on, I would second the suggestion of having Dave Shayler as the new editor of Spaceflight. I have admired his work and his books over the years. Well known and respected amongst the astronaut community. He has done so much for the BIS with his articles and lectures, especially with the Russian & Chinese Space Forums, which I used to attend when I lived in London. I am sure that the BIS can put this behind them and move forward as the great and historic Society it is. |
David C
Member Posts: 1253
From: Lausanne
Registered: Apr 2012
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posted 03-29-2021 04:09 PM
This is a great pity. I still think his “The History of Manned Space Flight” is excellent. Funny how the truth always gets out in the end though.I suppose this is going to give quite a few people some work to do. |
alcyone
Member Posts: 163
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Sep 2010
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posted 03-29-2021 06:30 PM
Now, when I watch the History Channel's documentary "NASA's Finest Hour: 13 Factors That Saved Apollo 13," I realize human space flight history, in a way, has its very own Frank Abagnale Jr. character! I always thought David Baker looked younger than some of the other '60's era NASA engineers appearing in the show. This revelation will not impede my enjoyment of this excellent doc in any way. I apologize if this post seems superficial, but it is my true feeling about the matter. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 46009
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 03-31-2021 02:15 PM
From the British Interplanetary Society (via Twitter): The British Interplanetary Society is pleased to announce that the new editor of SpaceFlight will be Mark Hempsell. Mark has taken on this role on a temporary basis. |
Ronpur
Member Posts: 1244
From: Brandon, Fl
Registered: May 2012
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posted 04-08-2021 07:38 AM
Wow, I have Crown Publishing Space Shuttle book by him from 1979. It says PHD on his title even then. This is shocking. |
Buel
Member Posts: 760
From: UK
Registered: Mar 2012
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posted 04-08-2021 12:50 PM
According to a source on Twitter, he claimed he helped design the interior of the Apollo CM. He was certainly busy. |
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