Chief of the Astronaut Office

I decide who goes up and who doesn't.

Deke Slayton, Chief of the Astronaut Office,
in season 1, episode 4, "Prime Crew".

The Chief of the Astronaut Office, also called Chief Astronaut, was the most senior leadership position for active astronauts at NASA. The Chief Astronaut assigned astronauts to the missions and decided who was ready or not. He or she was also supervising and managing ASCAN education and trainings, and was responsible for coordination, scheduling, and control of all activities involving NASA astronauts. The Chief Astronaut had the final say who goes up and when.

The Astronaut Office was located at the Johnson Space Center, NASA's main space center in Houston, Texas. The office was dissolved by NASA director Margo Madison in 1992.^[1]

History[]

NASA's first Chief Astronaut was Deke Slayton. After he was grounded from Project Mercury^W due to heart issues, he became the "Coordinator of Astronaut Activities", held responsibility for the operation of the astronaut office. In 1964, the position "Chief of the Astronaut Office" was officially created.

In 1974, Deke was given medical clearance and he assigned himself to the prime crew of Apollo 24.^[2] During his absence, Buzz Aldrin became acting Chief Astronaut.^[3] After Deke died in lunar orbit, Edward Baldwin became the new Chief of the Astronaut Office after his return from Jamestown at the beginning of 1975. He stayed in office for almost 9 years until June 1983, when he like Deke before assigned himself for a mission again, the maiden flight of NASA's new shuttle, Pathfinder. He nominated Molly Cobb as his successor, who started her new job on June 27.^[4]

Nine years later, in August 1992, Margo Madison fired Molly after she had assigned Ed as mission commander for NASA's 1996 mission to Mars instead of Danielle Poole, who, according to Margo, was "the agency's choice". Margo decided, that from now on, flight crews would be determined by a selection committee based on mission parameters, and therefore dissolved the Astronaut Office.^[1]

List of Chief Astronauts[]

#	Name	Started	Resigned
1	Deke Slayton	18 Sep. 1962	End of Oct. 1974
2	Buzz Aldrin (acting)	End of Oct. 1974	End of 1974
3	Edward Baldwin	January 1975	24 June 1983
4	Molly Cobb	27 June 1983	early August 1992