George Abbey

George Washington Sherman Abbey was born in Seattle, Washington USA in 1932. [In conversation with George Abbey 27/03/2008 at UK Space Conference: Charterhouse England.] Director of the NASA Johnson Space Center's Flight Crew Operations Directorate (FCOD), presiding from the first group of space shuttle astronauts in 1978 (commonly referred to as TFNGs -- Thirty Five New Guys) through 1988. Abbey was succeeded by Don Puddy in 1989, but returned as Director in 1996.

During Abbey's leadership period in the 1980s he was allegedly despised by many astronauts because of his lack of communication with the astronauts. Richard "Mike" Mullane describes Abbey in his book "Riding Rockets" as a "midlevel bureaucrat [who] had supreme authority over shuttle mission assignments. Morale suffered significantly under his despotic and secretive leadership style, and many astronauts came to loathe him." John Young, the chief of astronauts during this time, was said to resemble Abbey. Nevertheless, he can be credited with being the driving force behind the development of the International Space Station (ISS) during a period of turbulence following the financial crises affecting the Russian space agencies and was notable for allowing each selected astronaut to fly at least one mission.

Director during both the Skylab space station project in 1973 and the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975; Director of Flight Operations 1976 to 1985; and Director of Flight Crew Operations until 1988, when he became Deputy Associate Administrator for the Office of Space Flight. Abbey became Acting Director of Johnson Space Center in 1995.

He has also served on important planning and policy boards, including the Synthesis Group, and was Senior Director for Civil Space Policy for the National Space Council, Executive Office of the President.

Prior to his NASA career, Abbey was a pilot and an officer in the United States Air Force, accumulating over 4000 hours of flying time. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Naval Academy and a Master of Science degree in electrical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology.

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External links

* [http://www.space.co.uk/DataBank/VideoGallery/VideoPlayer/tabid/384/VideoId/33/Test-Pilot-Discussion.aspx Former BBC space correspondent Reg Turnill interviews George Abbey in 2008]