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America's Astronauts and Their Indestructible Spirit

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This fascinating book, written by Dr. Fred Kelly, is one of those singularly unique references on the early days of the 'space age', written by a man who played a major role in it. I first met Fred in Saudi Arabia in 1983, where he was working as the Royal Saudi AF flight medicine program director, after having 'retired' from his long and noteworthy NASA career as a Cape flight surgeon.

Fred began his long career in aerospace medicine and flight physiology in the 1950s, when he became the Navy's first dual-rated Naval Aviator and Flight Surgeon. When NASA offered him a position at the Cape as one of the early space program's astronaut physicians, Fred resigned his Naval Commission, stopped flying hot Navy fighters, and began work full time at the Cape as a NASA flight surgeon.

Fred remained with the NASA space program through the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs, finally leaving NASA employ shortly after the first STS shuttle flights began. He was the physician on duty at the Cape Blockhouse when the Apollo AS-204 (Apollo 1) disaster occurred, taking the lives of Apollo astronauts Grissom, Chaffee, and White, and was one of the first responders at the time of that tragedy. Fred later helped co-author the medical report aspect of the Apollo 204 accident investigation. [... ]

Fred would likely have gone on to become NASA's first physician-astronaut, had it not been for his having (unfairly) gained the undying enmity of Chief Astronaut 'Deke' Slayton for having helped ground Mercury-7 astronaut Slayton due to a suspected heart defect. As a result, the first NASA doctor-astronaut candidate did not fly until well after the space shuttle program got underway, at a much later date, and Fred lost his chance to be the first doctor-astronaut in space. As far as Slayton was concerned, flight surgeons were more of a 'necessary evil' than supportive, helpful colleagues (a rather common attitude towards doctors maintained by many pilots, owing to their authority to keep a pilot out of the air for medical reasons).

Fred has since written several other books, is still an active participant in international aerospace medicine activities, and is a strong supporter of the upcoming NASA Mars Mission. You may visit his website and read more about Fred and his activities in aerospace medical affairs by dialing up the following URL: [...]

Meanwhile, don't miss out on obtaining a copy of this now out-of-print classic when you are able to find one. It is well worth every moment spent reading it!