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Author
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Topic: NASA's Gemini and Apollo flight surgeons
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Philip
Member Posts: 6364
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 10-24-2025 10:20 AM
   
Besides Dr. William K. Douglas (1922-1998) and Dr. Charles A. Berry (1924-2020), who were the NASA astronaut flight surgeons during Gemini and Apollo programs?I believe Dr. Douglas and Dr. Berry were U.S. Air Force, while Dr. L. Ballenberger was U.S. Navy? Any background on Dr. Howard A. Minners and Dr. Eugene F. Tubbs? |
onesmallstep
Member Posts: 1552
From: Staten Island, New York USA
Registered: Nov 2007
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posted 10-24-2025 11:00 AM
Dr. William Carpentier (b. 1935, Edmondton, Alberta Canada) comes to mind. He was a flight surgeon at the time of Apollo 11 and spent weeks in quarantine with the astronauts and NASA engineer John Hirasaki (b. 1941) after splashdown. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his role in the Apollo 13 mission. |
Philip
Member Posts: 6364
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 10-30-2025 04:56 AM
Apollo 17 — Dr Charles "Chuck" La Pinta (1934-2015). He trained at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and was a U.S. Army veteran. Dr. LaPinta then pursued a career in Aerospace Medicine. He spent his long career at NASA, as Crew Surgeon and Chief of Physiologic Training during the heyday of the U.S. space program. His many interesting duties included being Crew Surgeon on numerous Apollo, Skylab and Shuttle missions; traveling internationally with astronaut teams on working and goodwill trips; facilitating astronaut training and medical care; participating as a test subject for space program training exercises; and serving as the family physician to astronauts and their families, many other NASA personnel, and friends and neighbors who called or knocked on the door. |
amcombill
New Member Posts: 5
From: Huntsville, AL
Registered: May 2022
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posted 11-30-2025 01:26 AM
Howard Minners was a flight surgeon during the Gemini era. He was formerly Air Force. He was involved in an incident in which a 1793 US cent was included in the inflight medical kit on the Gemini VII mission, for a coin collector friend. After leaving NASA, he went to the NIH in Bethesda, Maryland, where I believe he is still living. |
onesmallstep
Member Posts: 1552
From: Staten Island, New York USA
Registered: Nov 2007
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posted 12-02-2025 09:29 AM
Dr Clarence A. Jernigan (1934-2022) was an Air Force flight medical officer for the Strategic Air Command and Director of Aerospace Medicine at Altus AFB, Oklahoma. He joined NASA in 1964 and was a Remote Site Medical Flight Controller for Geminis 3, 4 and 5. He was Crew Flight Surgeon for Apollos 7, 8, 12 (spending quarantine with the crew) and 15. He was Deputy Crew Surgeon for Apollo 11 on board the USS Hornet, and Chief, Flight Medicine Branch, at NASA JSC from 1968-72. |
c670cj
Member Posts: 35
From: Renton, Washington
Registered: Jul 2016
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posted 12-20-2025 10:31 AM
Dr. Dwight Owen 'Nig' Coons (D.O. Coons) was a notable Canadian-born Royal Canadian Air Force flight surgeon who joined NASA in 1963, serving as Deputy Medical Director during the Gemini and early Apollo era, a crucial mentor for early astronauts, and a key figure in space medicine, known for his direct involvement in monitoring astronaut health and contributing to flight safety during manned spaceflight.He was the astronauts' favorite and most trusted in the Medical Flight Office at JSC and lived in El Lago next door to Ed White and Neil Armstrong. |
c670cj
Member Posts: 35
From: Renton, Washington
Registered: Jul 2016
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posted 12-20-2025 10:46 AM
True or false, was William Carpentier Canada's first space doctor? The answer to that question is... False. A well regarded Royal Canadian Air Force flight surgeon by the name of Dwight Owen Coons joined NASA in 1963 as deputy medical director of the aforementioned Manned Spacecraft Center, which was pretty darn impressive if I do say so myself. He worked on the Gemini program and helped to design the spacesuit used for the first American spacewalk, made in June 1965 by Edward Higgins "Ed" White II. Coons later helped to prepare the aforementioned Lunar Receiving Laboratory. He was also involved in the selection of the first scientist astronauts in 1967. Rather popular at NASA, particularly with most astronauts (who could/can be a tad prickly at times, especially with flight surgeons), Coons left NASA and went into private practice in 1969. |
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