Jonny Kim solos the T-6

[Peekskill1941]

Yeah. I don't know anything from the inside, but it seems that if you want to be an astronaut who comes from the military you're a jet pilot. I'm sure there's the exception that proves the rule.

Maybe it's a left over from the Mercury Seven era where everyone was a test pilot and they were all flying jets. Maybe it's because jet pilots exist in an environment where they think in 8+ miles per minute, see the world well beyond what everyone else does, and has the culture to brief and debrief everything is excruciating detail. "You were 3 seconds behind timeline and you looked left instead of looking right- that's why you're dead" doesn't really work in the big wing community yet is expected in the fighter community.


Maybe you'd like to argue that Jet grades shouldn't exist anymore in flight school? I don't know. There has to be a cut somewhere, right? People far smarter than me have figured it out. Helo guys don't become NASA pilots. Jet guys do. I didn't write the rules.

FWIW, I think you’d be surprised to see what a helo debrief looks like these days in both HSM and HSC.

 

[IKE]

Kate Spies (H-1), Jasmin Moghbeli (H-1) Marcos Barrios (H-60), Suni Williams (H-46), Ben Bailey (H-60)... I'm sure I've missed a few.

NASA has an interest in us low-n-slow types when it comes to the human landing system (HLS) and controlling its dusty descent.

IIRC, for years the Navy had language in its astronaut application instruction limiting pilot applications to pointy-nosed people, but I'm not sure that's still the case.

 

[MIDNJAC]

It definitely goes back multiple decades, at least if you include mission specialists who were once Navy/USMC RW pilots selected to the astronaut corps. Personal 6-degree of separation person, but Wendy Lawrence was an early one. Her stepfather was the minister at my childhood episcopal church. She was a helo gal in the Navy, and did several shuttle missions. Looks like she was astronaut class of ‘92. I’m guessing there were dude RW pilots selected before that.

 

[VMO4]

I would think rotary experience would help in putting the lunar landing module on the lunar surface....vertical descent, barely controllable, built by different engineers that did not talk to each other, defying laws of physics, etc....

 

[taxi1]

Have there ever been RW spacecraft pilots at NASA? I think jet guy is the de facto standard for that gig. Not to be a dick, but jet guys think, decide and act at high speed because it's the environment they're used to operating in with high performance aircraft.

Of the original 7, Scott Carpenter was VP Navy. P-2Vs. Prop planes.

Winston Scott was an HSL pilot, got a transition to jets, had difficulties at the boat, became an AEDO, then became an astronaut and mission specialist.

We had a pile of helo guys come through VT26 to transition and instruct. I found that helo guys tended to always move the controls instead of letting the plane fly itself. Like, dude, this thing will gladly glide.

 

[Griz882]

Of the original 7, Scott Carpenter was VP Navy. P-2Vs. Prop planes.

Winston Scott was an HSL pilot, got a transition to jets, had difficulties at the boat, became an AEDO, then became an astronaut and mission specialist.

We had a pile of helo guys come through VT26 to transition and instruct. I found that helo guys tended to always move the controls instead of letting the plane fly itself. Like, dude, this thing will gladly glide.

So really, to correct poor assumption, it seems like a major factor in astronaut (pilot) selection is more likely to be TPS. Makes sense.

 

[Flash]

Have there ever been RW spacecraft pilots at NASA? I think jet guy is the de facto standard for that gig. Not to be a dick, but jet guys think, decide and act at high speed because it's the environment they're used to operating in with high performance aircraft.

NASA has an interest in us low-n-slow types when it comes to the human landing system (HLS) and controlling its dusty descent.

It definitely goes back multiple decades, at least if you include mission specialists who were once Navy/USMC RW pilots selected to the astronaut corps. Personal 6-degree of separation person, but Wendy Lawrence was an early one. Her stepfather was the minister at my childhood episcopal church. She was a helo gal in the Navy, and did several shuttle missions. Looks like she was astronaut class of ‘92. I’m guessing there were dude RW pilots selected before that.

During the Space Shuttle era and prior to a large degree the pilots and mission commanders were almost all pointy nose types and the few who weren't had significant fast jet experience as test pilots or through their previous training. Mission Specialists were a different animal and several helo types were selected in that time period, as folks have already pointed out, in addition to NFO's and a whole host of others. With the end of the shuttle program I don't think new classes of astronauts make the distinction though I assume they would probably have aviators still be the 'pilots'.

And interesting note about helo pilots turned astronauts, I had a RAG classmate who was a Space Shuttle sim instructor (actual flight experience not needed!) and he said NASA found helo pilots were pretty good as Shuttle arm operators as the controls were more similar in operation to them, or something along those lines.