The Astro-Scientists

The first 30 U.S. astronauts were all top jet pilots. Last week the National Aeronautics and Space Administration named six more--and a couple of them can't even fly. Four of the new men are scientists with Ph.D.s; the other two are physicians. NASA hopes to utilize their scientific skills after manned flights to the moon become an accomplished fact.*The astro-scientists:

>Owen K. Garriott, 34, an associate professor of physics at Stanford University, is a wispy (5 ft. 9 in., 145 Ibs.) electrical engineer specializing in ionospheric physics. He holds a private pilot's license for single-engine land planes, first applied for the space program 18 months ago, got nowhere, had to reapply.

> Edward G. Gibson, 29, physicist and senior researcher at Philco's Applied Research Laboratories, has flown only as a passenger. Like his three colleagues who are not qualified to fly jets, he will undergo a 55-week training course that will eventually certify him as a jet pilot. He volunteered last year after his wife, at the breakfast table, read aloud a newspaper story about NASA's new interest in science-trained spacemen.

> Duane E. Graveline, 34, joined NASA last month as a flight surgeon after serving at the Air Force's Aerospace Medicine School. An expert on weightlessness, he hopes to experience it and other effects of prolonged flight in space. Graveline has a private pilot's license but is not jet-qualified.

>Lieut. Commander Joseph P. Kerwin, 33, a Navy flight surgeon and jet pilot, has hankered for astronaut's wings for two years, says it took him exactly 1 1/2 seconds to make up his mind when he heard NASA was out shopping.

>Frank Curtis Michel, 31, a physicist and assistant professor of space sciences at Rice University, is an expert on solar winds. Although he had flown Air Force jet fighters for three years, his first application for the space program was rejected in 1963 because of insufficient flying time.

> Harrison H. Schmitt, 29, a member of the U.S. Geological Survey's astrogeology department, has lectured astronauts in this field, served as project chief for photo and telescopic mapping of the moon and planets. Like Gibson, he is not yet a pilot. Of all the astronauts, Schmitt is the only bachelor.

By the time they are through with their training, the astro-scientists will be able to fly space capsules as well as jets. They will probably do some spacecraft piloting, but their main function will be as expert passengers in moon flights four or five years from now. Explains Dr. Robert R. Gilruth, director of NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston: "After we've developed a transportation system to the moon and back, we can enjoy the luxury of scientific experiments."

*These will be missions flown in three-man Apollo spacecraft. Meanwhile, crews for the remaining two-man Gemini nights will be drawn from the 28 pilots still active. Scheduled for the next three shots: Major Gordon Cooper and Lieut. Commander Charles Conrad in Gemini 5 next month, Commander Walter Schirra and Major Thomas Stafford in Gemini 6 next December or January; Major Frank Borman and Lieut. Commander James Lovell in Gemini 7 early next year.

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