Richard H. Truly
The first NASA administrator to have also served as an astronaut
The first astronaut to become administrator of NASA, Richard H. Truly, had an extensive career serving his country while also leaving the confines of Earth on two occasions. His service to his country has led to multiple prestigious positions across a number of institutions, and he has a healthy medal collection to show for it. Born on 12 November 1937 in Fayette, Mississippi, United States, Truly was allured by aviation from an early age, and clearly showed that he was capable of great things as he reached the highest rank a Boy Scout of America can reach, Eagle Scout. His path through education led him down the engineering route, having received a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1959.
The following year Truly’s Naval career, which went on for over 30 years, began as a naval aviator. Truly has previously stated that he never had a lifelong desire to join the
Navy, but instead it was just a career path he chose. Fortunately, this very wise career path is what led to him to become an astronaut and the key figure of the world’s leading science and space exploration administration.
In August 1969, the NASA Astronaut Corps had a new member in the shape of Truly, who spent four years training and preparing before he was finally involved with a space mission. In 1973, Truly was a member of the astronaut support crew and capsule communicator, also known as CAPCOM, for all three manned Skylab missions in 1973. Truly was also CAPCOM for the first joint US and Soviet Union flight, the Apollo-Soyuz mission in 1975.
Afterwards he began actually flying. The first flying experience Truly had in regards to his astronaut career was piloting one of the Approach and Landing Tests of the Space Shuttle Enterprise in
1977. The first time Truly got to experience the nothingness of space firsthand was in 1981, when he was pilot of the STS-2 mission, the second Space Shuttle mission that included the spacecraft Columbia. Truly made a return to space in 1983, when he commanded the STS-8 mission on board Space Shuttle Challenger.
When Truly retired from the skies, he took up the groundbased position of NASA’s associate administrator for space flight just three weeks after the tragic Challenger disaster. This involved a careful evaluation of the entire situation, which could not have been an easy task. After 31 months a Space Shuttle finally flew again, having learned important key lessons from the tragedy.
Following this position, Truly became a Vice Admiral of the Navy, and the morning after he stepped down from this position he was sworn in as the eighth administrator of NASA under the tenure of George H. W. Bush.
For three years Truly reigned supreme over NASA, leading it through a rough time, including a harsh feud with the National Space Council. Unfortunately, President Bush relieved Truly of his duties in 1992 with no clear reason why. This is just one minor blip in what can be considered a very impressive and memorable career with NASA, whether it was venturing to the farthest frontiers in human space exploration or calling the shots across the entire administration.