Max Q is a Houston

Houston, Texas

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

-based rock band whose members are all 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....

s. It was formed in early 1987 by Robert L. Gibson

Robert L. Gibson

Robert Lee "Hoot" Gibson is a retired Captain and Naval Aviator in the United States Navy and a retired NASA astronaut.-Personal:...

, George Nelson

George Nelson (astronaut)

George Driver "Pinky" Nelson is a former NASA astronaut.Nelson was born in Charles City, Iowa, but considers Willmar, Minnesota, to be his hometown. His wife Susie is from Alhambra, California. They have two daughters, Aimee and Marti....

 and Brewster Shaw. Gibson named the band after "max Q

Max Q

In aerospace engineering, the maximum dynamic pressure, often referred to as maximum Q or max Q, is the point at which aerodynamic stress on a vehicle in atmospheric flight is maximized...

," the engineering term for the maximum dynamic pressure from the atmosphere experienced by an ascending spacecraft. He joked that like the Space Shuttle

Space Shuttle

The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...

, the band "makes lots of noise but no music."

The band's rotating line-up often changes due to flight crew assignments, training, and the occasional retirement.