Edward Gibson
Encyclopedia
Edward George Gibson, PhD, (born November 8, 1936) is a former NASA
astronaut
, pilot
, and engineer
.
Before becoming a NASA astronaut, Gibson graduated from the University of Rochester
and the California Institute of Technology
. He became a research assistant in jet propulsion
while completing his studies and eventually became a research scientist for Philco
Corporation until joining NASA.
Gibson was selected as an astronaut by NASA in 1965 as part of Astronaut Group 4, the first group of scientist-astronauts. He served on the support crew of Apollo 12
before moving on to work on the development of the Skylab
space station
. In 1973-74, Gibson made his first and only flight into space as Science Pilot aboard Skylab 4
, the third and final manned flight to Skylab. He, along with Commander Gerald Carr
and Pilot William Pogue
, spent just over 84 days in space. Gibson eventually resigned from NASA in December 1974.
on November 8, 1936. He graduated from Kenmore Senior High School, Kenmore, New York
, and received a bachelor of science
degree in Engineering
from the University of Rochester
, New York, in June 1959, a master of science
degree in Engineering (Jet Propulsion Option) from the California Institute of Technology
in June 1960, a doctorate
in Engineering with a minor in Physics from the California Institute of Technology in June 1964, an honorary doctorate of science from University of Rochester (New York) in 1974, and an honorary doctorate of science from Wagner College
, Staten Island, New York, in 1974.
Gibson was elected a Fellow of the American Astronautical Society
; member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
(AIAA), Tau Beta Pi
, Sigma Xi
, and Theta Chi Fraternity. He is a member of the Seniors Track Club.
and classical physics
. His technical publications are in the fields of plasma physics and solar physics
. He was senior research scientist with the Applied Research Laboratories of Philco
Corporation at Newport Beach, California
, from June 1964 until coming to NASA. While at Philco, he did research on laser
s and the optical breakdown of gases.
Gibson has logged more than 4,300 hours flying time—2,270 hours in jet aircraft.
by NASA in June 1965. He completed a 53-week course in flight training at Williams Air Force Base
, Arizona, and earned his Air Force
wings. Since then, he has flown helicopters and the T-38
.
He served as a member of the astronaut support crew and as a capcom for the Apollo 12
lunar landing, becoming the first from the scientist-astronaut group to get a crew assignment of any kind. He also participated in the design and testing of many elements of the Skylab space station. As part of his preparation for the Skylab program, Gibson studied solar physics
, ultimately writing an introductory monograph/textbook (The Quiet Sun) that is still (2006) used as a reference handbook for solar astrophysics
.
Dr. Gibson was the science-pilot of Skylab 4
(third and final manned visit to the Skylab space station), launched November 16, 1973, and concluded February 8, 1974. This was the longest manned flight (84 days 1 hour 15 minutes) in history of manned space exploration at that time. Dr. Gibson was accompanied on the record-setting 34.5-million-mile flight by Gerald P. Carr
(commander) and William R. Pogue
(pilot). They successfully completed 56 experiments, 26 science demonstrations, 15 subsystem detailed objectives, and 13 student investigations during their 1,214 revolutions of the earth. They also acquired a wide variety of earth resources observations data using Skylab’s earth resources experiment package camera and sensor array. Dr. Gibson was the crewman primarily responsible for the 338 hours of Apollo Telescope Mount operation, which made extensive observations of solar processes.
Until March 1978, Dr. Gibson and his Skylab-4 teammates held the world record for individual time in space: 2,017 hours 15 minutes 32 seconds, and Dr. Gibson logged 15 hours and 17 minutes in three EVAs
outside the orbital workshop.
Gibson resigned from NASA in December 1974 to do research on Skylab solar physics data as a senior staff scientist with the Aerospace Corporation of Los Angeles, California
. Beginning in March 1976, he served for one year as a consultant to ERNO Raumfahrttechnik GmbH, in West Germany
, on Spacelab design under the sponsorship of a U.S. Senior Scientist Award form the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. In March 1977, Dr. Gibson returned to the Astronaut Office Astronaut candidate selection and training as Chief of the Scientist-Astronaut Candidates.
After his NASA career, Dr. Gibson held marketing and program management positions with Booz Allen Hamilton
and TRW in the areas of space and energy development. He was the President of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry and his own consulting company, Gibson International. Currently he is Senior Vice President, Science Applications International Corporation
, and Manager of its EROS Data Center Operation in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
He has performed a significant amount of speaking and writing, having published a text book in solar physics, two novels (Reach and In the Wrong Hands), and edited The Greatest Adventure, a compilation of stories and pictures on space missions from many astronauts and cosmonauts around the world.
Dr. Gibson received a number of honorary doctorate degrees and national and international awards and honors including the Robert J. Collier Trophy, the NASA Distinguished Service Medal from the President, and induction into the US Astronaut Hall of Fame.
Fellowship and a R. C. Baker Fellowship at the California Institute of Technology, and listed in several Who's Who publications. He received the Johnson Space Center Certificate of Commendation (1970), the NASA Distinguished Service Medal (presented by President Richard M. Nixon in 1974), the City of New York Gold Medal (1974), the Robert J. Collier Trophy for 1973 (1974), the Dr. Robert H. Goddard
Memorial Trophy for 1975 (1975), the Federation Aeronautique Internationale’s De La Vaulx Medal and V. M. Komarov Diploma for 1974 (1975), the American Astronautical Society’s 1975 Flight Achievement Award (1976), the AIAA Haley Astronautics Award for 1975 (1976), a Senior U.S. Scientist Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (1976), and a JSC Special Achievement Award (1978). He was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1997
. He has four children. His recreational interests include distance running, swimming, photography, flying, and motorcycling.
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
astronaut
Astronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
, pilot
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
, and engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
.
Before becoming a NASA astronaut, Gibson graduated from the University of Rochester
University of Rochester
The University of Rochester is a private, nonsectarian, research university in Rochester, New York, United States. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The university has six schools and various interdisciplinary programs.The...
and the California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
. He became a research assistant in jet propulsion
Jet propulsion
Jet propulsion is motion produced by passing a jet of fluid in the opposite direction to the direction of motion. By conservation of momentum, the moving body is propelled in the opposite direction to the jet....
while completing his studies and eventually became a research scientist for Philco
Philco
Philco, the Philadelphia Storage Battery Company , was a pioneer in early battery, radio, and television production as well as former employer of Philo Farnsworth, inventor of cathode ray tube television...
Corporation until joining NASA.
Gibson was selected as an astronaut by NASA in 1965 as part of Astronaut Group 4, the first group of scientist-astronauts. He served on the support crew of Apollo 12
Apollo 12
Apollo 12 was the sixth manned flight in the American Apollo program and the second to land on the Moon . It was launched on November 14, 1969 from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, four months after Apollo 11. Mission commander Charles "Pete" Conrad and Lunar Module Pilot Alan L...
before moving on to work on the development of the Skylab
Skylab
Skylab was a space station launched and operated by NASA, the space agency of the United States. Skylab orbited the Earth from 1973 to 1979, and included a workshop, a solar observatory, and other systems. It was launched unmanned by a modified Saturn V rocket, with a mass of...
space station
Space station
A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a crew which is designed to remain in space for an extended period of time, and to which other spacecraft can dock. A space station is distinguished from other spacecraft used for human spaceflight by its lack of major propulsion or landing...
. In 1973-74, Gibson made his first and only flight into space as Science Pilot aboard Skylab 4
Skylab 4
Skylab 4 was the fourth Skylab mission and placed the third and final crew on board the space station. The mission started November 16, 1973 with the launch of three astronauts on a Saturn IB rocket, and lasted 84 days, 1 hour and 16 minutes...
, the third and final manned flight to Skylab. He, along with Commander Gerald Carr
Gerald P. Carr
Gerald Paul Carr is an engineer, retired United States Marine Corps colonel and former NASA astronaut. He was commander of Skylab 4, the third and final manned visit to the Skylab Orbital Workshop, from November 16, 1973 to February 8, 1974.-Biography:Carr was born in Denver, Colorado on August...
and Pilot William Pogue
William R. Pogue
William Reid Pogue is a retired American astronaut who is also an accomplished teacher, public speaker, and author.-Biography:...
, spent just over 84 days in space. Gibson eventually resigned from NASA in December 1974.
Early life and education
Gibson was born in Buffalo, New YorkBuffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
on November 8, 1936. He graduated from Kenmore Senior High School, Kenmore, New York
Kenmore, New York
Village of Kenmore is a village in Erie County, New York, in the United States. The population was 16,426 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area....
, and received a bachelor of science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
degree in Engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
from the University of Rochester
University of Rochester
The University of Rochester is a private, nonsectarian, research university in Rochester, New York, United States. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The university has six schools and various interdisciplinary programs.The...
, New York, in June 1959, a master of science
Master of Science
A Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences including the social sciences.-Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay:...
degree in Engineering (Jet Propulsion Option) from the California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
in June 1960, a doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
in Engineering with a minor in Physics from the California Institute of Technology in June 1964, an honorary doctorate of science from University of Rochester (New York) in 1974, and an honorary doctorate of science from Wagner College
Wagner College
Wagner College is a private, co-educational, national liberal arts college with an enrollment of approximately 2,400 total students located atop Grymes Hill in New York City's borough of Staten Island...
, Staten Island, New York, in 1974.
Gibson was elected a Fellow of the American Astronautical Society
American Astronautical Society
Formed in 1954, the American Astronautical Society is an independent scientific and technical group in the United States dedicated to the advancement of space science and exploration. AAS supports NASA's Vision for Space Exploration and is a member of the Coalition for Space Exploration and the...
; member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics is the professional society for the field of aerospace engineering. The AIAA was founded in 1963 from the merger of two earlier societies: the American Rocket Society , founded in 1930 as the American Interplanetary Society , and the Institute...
(AIAA), Tau Beta Pi
Tau Beta Pi
The Tau Beta Pi Association is the oldest engineering honor society in the United States and the second oldest collegiate honor society in America. It honors engineering students who have shown a history of academic achievement as well as a commitment to personal and professional integrity...
, Sigma Xi
Sigma Xi
Sigma Xi: The Scientific Research Society is a non-profit honor society which was founded in 1886 at Cornell University by a junior faculty member and a handful of graduate students. Members elect others on the basis of their research achievements or potential...
, and Theta Chi Fraternity. He is a member of the Seniors Track Club.
Early career
While studying at Caltech, Gibson was a research assistant in the field of jet propulsionJet propulsion
Jet propulsion is motion produced by passing a jet of fluid in the opposite direction to the direction of motion. By conservation of momentum, the moving body is propelled in the opposite direction to the jet....
and classical physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
. His technical publications are in the fields of plasma physics and solar physics
Solar physics
For the physics journal, see Solar Physics Solar physics is the study of our Sun. It is a branch of astrophysics that specializes in exploiting and explaining the detailed measurements that are possible only for our closest star...
. He was senior research scientist with the Applied Research Laboratories of Philco
Philco
Philco, the Philadelphia Storage Battery Company , was a pioneer in early battery, radio, and television production as well as former employer of Philo Farnsworth, inventor of cathode ray tube television...
Corporation at Newport Beach, California
Newport Beach, California
Newport Beach, incorporated in 1906, is a city in Orange County, California, south of downtown Santa Ana. The population was 85,186 at the 2010 census.The city's median family income and property values consistently place high in national rankings...
, from June 1964 until coming to NASA. While at Philco, he did research on laser
Laser
A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of photons. The term "laser" originated as an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation...
s and the optical breakdown of gases.
Gibson has logged more than 4,300 hours flying time—2,270 hours in jet aircraft.
NASA career
Dr. Gibson was selected as a scientist-astronautAstronaut Group 4
Astronaut Group 4 was the fourth group of astronauts selected by NASA in June 1965. While the astronauts of the previous three groups were required to have college and some advanced degrees, they were primarily chosen for their test pilot backgrounds...
by NASA in June 1965. He completed a 53-week course in flight training at Williams Air Force Base
Williams Air Force Base
Williams Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base, located in Mesa, and about southeast of Phoenix, Arizona.It was active as a training base for both the United States Army Air Forces, as well as the USAF from 1941 until its closure in 1993...
, Arizona, and earned his Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
wings. Since then, he has flown helicopters and the T-38
T-38 Talon
The Northrop T-38 Talon is a twin-engine supersonic jet trainer. It was the world's first supersonic trainer and is also the most produced. The T-38 remains in service as of 2011 in air forces throughout the world....
.
He served as a member of the astronaut support crew and as a capcom for the Apollo 12
Apollo 12
Apollo 12 was the sixth manned flight in the American Apollo program and the second to land on the Moon . It was launched on November 14, 1969 from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, four months after Apollo 11. Mission commander Charles "Pete" Conrad and Lunar Module Pilot Alan L...
lunar landing, becoming the first from the scientist-astronaut group to get a crew assignment of any kind. He also participated in the design and testing of many elements of the Skylab space station. As part of his preparation for the Skylab program, Gibson studied solar physics
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
, ultimately writing an introductory monograph/textbook (The Quiet Sun) that is still (2006) used as a reference handbook for solar astrophysics
Astrophysics
Astrophysics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the physics of the universe, including the physical properties of celestial objects, as well as their interactions and behavior...
.
Dr. Gibson was the science-pilot of Skylab 4
Skylab 4
Skylab 4 was the fourth Skylab mission and placed the third and final crew on board the space station. The mission started November 16, 1973 with the launch of three astronauts on a Saturn IB rocket, and lasted 84 days, 1 hour and 16 minutes...
(third and final manned visit to the Skylab space station), launched November 16, 1973, and concluded February 8, 1974. This was the longest manned flight (84 days 1 hour 15 minutes) in history of manned space exploration at that time. Dr. Gibson was accompanied on the record-setting 34.5-million-mile flight by Gerald P. Carr
Gerald P. Carr
Gerald Paul Carr is an engineer, retired United States Marine Corps colonel and former NASA astronaut. He was commander of Skylab 4, the third and final manned visit to the Skylab Orbital Workshop, from November 16, 1973 to February 8, 1974.-Biography:Carr was born in Denver, Colorado on August...
(commander) and William R. Pogue
William R. Pogue
William Reid Pogue is a retired American astronaut who is also an accomplished teacher, public speaker, and author.-Biography:...
(pilot). They successfully completed 56 experiments, 26 science demonstrations, 15 subsystem detailed objectives, and 13 student investigations during their 1,214 revolutions of the earth. They also acquired a wide variety of earth resources observations data using Skylab’s earth resources experiment package camera and sensor array. Dr. Gibson was the crewman primarily responsible for the 338 hours of Apollo Telescope Mount operation, which made extensive observations of solar processes.
Until March 1978, Dr. Gibson and his Skylab-4 teammates held the world record for individual time in space: 2,017 hours 15 minutes 32 seconds, and Dr. Gibson logged 15 hours and 17 minutes in three EVAs
Extra-vehicular activity
Extra-vehicular activity is work done by an astronaut away from the Earth, and outside of a spacecraft. The term most commonly applies to an EVA made outside a craft orbiting Earth , but also applies to an EVA made on the surface of the Moon...
outside the orbital workshop.
Gibson resigned from NASA in December 1974 to do research on Skylab solar physics data as a senior staff scientist with the Aerospace Corporation of Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. Beginning in March 1976, he served for one year as a consultant to ERNO Raumfahrttechnik GmbH, in West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
, on Spacelab design under the sponsorship of a U.S. Senior Scientist Award form the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. In March 1977, Dr. Gibson returned to the Astronaut Office Astronaut candidate selection and training as Chief of the Scientist-Astronaut Candidates.
Post-NASA and later work
In October 1990, Dr. Gibson began his own consulting firm, Gibson International Corp. The firm provides consulting services on program management, market development and space infrastructure design and operations.After his NASA career, Dr. Gibson held marketing and program management positions with Booz Allen Hamilton
Booz Allen Hamilton
Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. , or more commonly Booz Allen, is an American public consulting firm headquartered in McLean, Fairfax County, Virginia, with 80 other offices throughout the United States. Ralph Shrader is its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. The firm was founded by Edwin Booz in...
and TRW in the areas of space and energy development. He was the President of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry and his own consulting company, Gibson International. Currently he is Senior Vice President, Science Applications International Corporation
Science Applications International Corporation
SAIC is a FORTUNE 500 scientific, engineering and technology applications company headquartered in the United States with numerous federal, state, and private sector clients...
, and Manager of its EROS Data Center Operation in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
He has performed a significant amount of speaking and writing, having published a text book in solar physics, two novels (Reach and In the Wrong Hands), and edited The Greatest Adventure, a compilation of stories and pictures on space missions from many astronauts and cosmonauts around the world.
Dr. Gibson received a number of honorary doctorate degrees and national and international awards and honors including the Robert J. Collier Trophy, the NASA Distinguished Service Medal from the President, and induction into the US Astronaut Hall of Fame.
Special honors
Gibson was awarded a National Science FoundationNational Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
Fellowship and a R. C. Baker Fellowship at the California Institute of Technology, and listed in several Who's Who publications. He received the Johnson Space Center Certificate of Commendation (1970), the NASA Distinguished Service Medal (presented by President Richard M. Nixon in 1974), the City of New York Gold Medal (1974), the Robert J. Collier Trophy for 1973 (1974), the Dr. Robert H. Goddard
Robert H. Goddard
Robert Hutchings Goddard was an American professor, physicist and inventor who is credited with creating and building the world's first liquid-fueled rocket, which he successfully launched on March 16, 1926...
Memorial Trophy for 1975 (1975), the Federation Aeronautique Internationale’s De La Vaulx Medal and V. M. Komarov Diploma for 1974 (1975), the American Astronautical Society’s 1975 Flight Achievement Award (1976), the AIAA Haley Astronautics Award for 1975 (1976), a Senior U.S. Scientist Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (1976), and a JSC Special Achievement Award (1978). He was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1997
Personal
Gibson is married to the former Julie Anne Volk of Tonawanda, New YorkTonawanda (town), New York
Tonawanda is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 census, the town had a population of 78,155. The town is at the north border of the county and is the northern suburb of Buffalo...
. He has four children. His recreational interests include distance running, swimming, photography, flying, and motorcycling.