Tom Stafford - Ad Astra
- 19th Mar 2024
- Author: Sean Sweeney
We're saddened to hear about the loss of NASA astronaut Tom Stafford - commander of the second crewed mission to lunar orbit, Apollo 10, and commander of the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.
Stafford's early years
Thomas P. Stafford was born on 17 September 1930 in Weatherford, Oklahoma, U.S. which now houses a museum named in his honour and features 63,000 sq. ft. of exhibits under one roof. Thomas Stafford’s mother came to Oklahoma in a covered wagon and lived long enough to see her only child fly to the Moon.
Thomas’ father was dentist and made sure he was taught to appreciate what he had by working hard for it. When Tom was only aged 4 he climbed his first windmill and was certain that he was on top of the world. This is where his desire to go higher and faster began.
Stafford attended Weatherford High School and graduated from there in 1948. He moved on to graduate with honours from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. The United States Naval Academy has an acceptance rate of 11% and half of applicants have an SAT score between 1200 and 1440. A score in this range is usually what they are looking for if you want to be considered as a candidate.
Stafford is also a recipient of several honorary degrees which recognises and individuals’ contributions to society, specific school, and the world at large. Stafford’s honorary degrees include:
- doctorate of laws, Oklahoma State University, the University of Cordoba, Argentina
- doctorate of communications, Emerson College, Boston, Massachusetts
- doctorate of aeronautical engineering, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Angeles California
- doctorate of communications, Emerson College, Boston Massachusetts
- doctorate of aeronautical engineering, Embry - Riddle Aeronautical university, Daytona Beach, Florida
- doctorate of humanities, Oklahoma Christian College, Edmond, Oklahoma
- masters of humane letters, Southwestern University, Weatherford, Oklahoma
The Military
In 1952 Stafford was appointed as second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force. He completed advanced interceptor training and served tours of duty at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota and at Hahn Air For Base, Germany where he flew F-86D’s. He graduated from the Air Force Experimental Flight Test Pilot school at Edwards AFB, California in 1959, and was recognised as that year's outstanding graduate.
Stafford remained at Edwards AFB after graduating and became a flight instructor. He became co-author of the Pilot’s Handbook for performance flight testing and the Aerodynamics Handbook for performance flight testing. Stafford also directed the writing of flight test manuals for staff and students.
NASA and retirement
On 11 September 1962, Thomas Stafford was among the second group of astronauts selected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). His first entry into space as a pilot was on the Gemini VI-A mission which took place in 1965. The Gemini Vl-A mission was the first time a two-crewed spacecraft had successfully rendezvoused with each other. Had the Gemini 6 and 7 spacecraft been equipped for docking they could have done so.
The Soviet Union had done something similar with their Vostok spacecrafts, but they only established radio contact to each other and physically came no closer to one another than seven kilometres apart. Stafford's greatest achievement would come on the 18 May 1969 when he, Eugene Cernan and John Young commanded Apollo 10. This was the dress rehearsal for the Apollo 11 Moon landing. Apollo 10 orbited the Moon for 61 hours and achieved the highest speed ever attained by humans, 24,790 miles per hour.
Stafford logged his fourth and final space flight as Apollo commander of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project Mission on 15 July 1975. This was a joint US/USSR space flight, bringing together the first historic meeting in space between the Americans and Soviets. Following his NASA career, in June 1975 Stafford was offered command of the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base. He accepted the offer and started his position on 15 November 1975. Stafford retired on 1 November 1979 and went back to where it all started, in Oklahoma City. Only a one-and-a-half-hour drive from where he grew up in Weatherford, Oklahoma.
Ad Astra Tom Stafford
Full references / credits:
(Banner image) Ad Astra background design. Credit: ©National Space Centre
(1) Lieutenant General Thomas P. Stafford Air Force photo. Credit: United States Air Force
(2) Retired Astronaut Thomas P Stafford stands next to the NASA Astrovan.
Credit: public domain (Picrly) https://picryl.com/media/ksc-2012-4389-9d502e
