View source for Biography:Manned Spaceflight Engineer Program

The '''Manned Spaceflight Engineer Program''' was an effort by the {{wipe|United States Air Force}} to train American military personnel as [[Biography:Payload specialist|payload specialist]]s for United States Department of Defense missions on the [[Engineering:Space Shuttle program|Space Shuttle program]].
==Background==
The {{wipe|United States Air Force}} (USAF) and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) of the United States Department of Defense (DoD) participated in the development of the Space Shuttle from its official inception in 1969. To save money, the shuttle was intended to serve as the United States' national launch system for all civilian, military, and classified payloads.<ref name="broad"/><ref name="day20100111">Day, Dwayne A. "[http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1542/1 Big Black and the new bird: the NRO and the early Space Shuttle]" ''The Space Review'', 11 January 2010.</ref><ref name="day20061120">Day, Dwayne A. "[http://www.thespacereview.com/article/748/1 The spooks and the turkey]" ''The Space Review'', 20 November 2006.</ref> The DoD influenced key aspects of the shuttle's design such as the size of its cargo bay,<ref name="day20061120"/><ref name="cassutt">Cassutt, Michael "[http://www.airspacemag.com/space-exploration/Secret-Space-Shuttles.html?c=y&page=1 Secret Space Shuttles]" ''Air & Space'', 1 August 2009.</ref> and Congress reportedly told DoD that it would not pay for satellites not designed to fit into the bay.<ref name="aldridge2005fall">{{cite web | url=http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/aeronautics-and-astronautics/16-885j-aircraft-systems-engineering-fall-2005/readings/aldrdg_space_war.pdf | title=Assured Access: "The Bureaucratic Space War" | publisher=[[Organization:Massachusetts Institute of Technology|Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] | work=16.885j, "Aircraft Systems Engineering" | date=Fall 2005 | accessdate=September 17, 2012 | author=Aldridge, E. C. Pete Jr.}}</ref>

The USAF in the 1970s hoped to buy up to three shuttles<ref name="day20061120"/><ref name="cassutt1989"/> and fly them with all-military crews. As with the earlier X-20 Dyna-Soar and [[Organization:Manned Orbiting Laboratory|Manned Orbiting Laboratory]], budget concerns ended the "Blue Shuttle" program,<ref name="cassutt1989"/> but the USAF gained the use of up to one third of all launches<ref name="broad"/> and the right to requisition the next available launch for high-priority payloads.<ref name="cassutt1989"/> It renovated an existing launch site at {{wipe|Vandenberg Air Force Base}} in California to send shuttles into [[Astronomy:Polar orbit|polar orbit]]s<ref name="cassutt"/> and established the 1st Manned Spaceflight Control Squadron at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. The personnel of that squadron were placed in the NASA Shuttle mission control team and (as a part of that team) participated in monitoring military (and all other) shuttle flights from NASA's Mission Control Center in Houston. The Mission Control Center had been turned into a secure operating facility to support classified Shuttle missions. The long term plan was to eventually move to the planned DoD mission control center east of Colorado Springs, Colorado that would monitor an expected 12 to 14 flights each year.<ref name="broad"/>

==MSE==
Many active-duty USAF and other American military personnel have served (about 60% of the total in 1985),<ref name="blakeslee">Blakeslee, Sandra. "[https://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/08/science/astronauts-return-from-secret.html?&pagewanted=all Astronauts return from secret]" (sic) ''The New York Times'', 8 October 1985.</ref> and continue to serve, as NASA astronauts. Although with the end of "Blue Shuttle" DoD no longer needed its own shuttle pilots and mission specialists,<ref name="cassutt1989"/> it still desired military [[Biography:Payload specialist|payload specialist]]s for classified payloads on the about 100 or more shuttle flights it expected to use.<ref name="broad"/> While NASA offered to train the DoD astronauts the military wanted to control their training, as DoD astronauts who went to NASA rarely returned.<ref name="cassutt1989"/>

In 1979, the first 13 Manned Spaceflight Engineers (MSEs) were selected,<ref name="astronautix1979">"[http://www.astronautix.com/astrogrp/dod11979.htm DoD Group 1 - 1979] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081228061342/http://www.astronautix.com/astrogrp/dod11979.htm |date=2008-12-28 }}" ''Encyclopedia Astronautica''.</ref> chosen from all services<ref name="cassutt"/> and based at {{wipe|Los Angeles Air Force Base}}:<ref name="broad"/><ref name="peebles">{{Cite book |last=Peebles |first=Curtis |title=High Frontier: The U.S. Air Force and the Military Space Program |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cMgdYypcPc8C&lpg=PA28&pg=PA27#v=onepage&q&f=true |year=1997 |publisher=DIANE Publishing |location=Darby, Pennsylvania |isbn=978-0-7881-4800-2 |pages=27,29,31}}</ref>

* [https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/Article/108162/major-general-frank-j-casserino/ Frank J. Casserino]
* Jeffrey E. Detroye
* [http://www.af.mil/AboutUs/Biographies/Display/tabid/225/Article/104884/lieutenant-general-michael-a-hamel.aspx Michael A. Hamel]
* Terry A. Higbee
* Daryl J. Joseph
* Malcolm W. Lydon
* Gary E. Payton (flew on [[Engineering:STS-51-C|STS-51-C]], 1985){{r|cassutt1989}}
* Jerry J. Rij
* Paul A. Sefchek
* Eric E. Sundberg
* David M. Vidrine, USN (removed from [[Engineering:STS-41-C|STS-41-C]] one month before launch)<ref name="cassutt1989"/>
* John Brett Watterson (assigned to STS-62-A, canceled after ''Challenger'' accident){{r|cassutt1989}}{{r|spellman20170103}}
* Keith C. Wright (backup for STS-51-C){{r|cassutt1989}}

In 1982, another 14 were selected,<ref name="astronautix1982">"[http://www.astronautix.com/astrogrp/dod21982.htm DoD Group 2 - 1982] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091013122025/http://www.astronautix.com/astrogrp/dod21982.htm |date=2009-10-13 }}" ''Encyclopedia Astronautica''.</ref> chosen only from the USAF:
* [http://www.af.mil/AboutUs/Biographies/Display/tabid/225/Article/104762/major-general-james-b-armor-jr.aspx James B. Armor, Jr.]
* Michael W. Booen (backup for Pailes){{r|cassutt1989}}
* Livingston L. Holder, Jr.
* Larry D. James
* [[Biography:Charles Edward Jones|Charles E. Jones]]
* [https://www.linkedin.com/in/maureen-lacomb-b47b838/ Maureen C. LaComb]
* Michael R. Mantz (backup for STS-62-A){{r|cassutt1989}}
* Randy T. Odle (assigned to STS-62-A){{r|cassutt1989}}
* William A. Pailes (flew on [[Engineering:STS-51-J|STS-51-J]], 1985){{r|cassutt1989}}
* Craig A. Puz
* Katherine E. Sparks Roberts
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131221023145/http://www.darpa.mil/Our_Work/TTO/Personnel/Mr_Jess_Sponable.aspx Jess M. Sponable]
* William D. Thompson
* Glenn S. Yeakel

In 1985, five more were selected:<ref name="cassutt1989">Cassutt, Michael. "[http://epizodsspace.testpilot.ru/bibl/spaceflight/31/mse.html The Manned Space Flight Engineer Programme] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081230225623/http://epizodsspace.testpilot.ru/bibl/spaceflight/31/mse.html |date=2008-12-30 }}" ''Spaceflight'', January 1989.</ref><ref name="astronautix1985">"[http://www.astronautix.com/astrogrp/dod31985.htm DoD Group 3 - 1985] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081228080641/http://www.astronautix.com/astrogrp/dod31985.htm |date=2008-12-28 }}" ''Encyclopedia Astronautica''.</ref>

* Joseph J. Caretto
* Robert B. Crombie
* Frank M. DeArmond
* David P. Staib, Jr.
* Teresa M. Stevens

Five of the 32 MSEs became generals.{{r|spellman20170103}} In 1991, Chief Warrant Officer Thomas J. Hennen, United States Army flew aboard [[Engineering:STS-44|STS-44]] as the first military payload specialist since Payton and Pailes, and the first enlisted soldier in space. He was not an MSE,{{r|peebles}} but assigned to the US Army Intelligence Center at Ft. Huachuca, Arizona.

==Secrecy==
As a civilian agency, NASA typically freely provides details on all aspects of its operations. The DoD shuttle missions required different procedures to maintain secrecy of the classified payloads. The government viewed the flights and their payloads as secret as troop movements, asked media organizations to avoid reporting details, and threatened to investigate even speculation as potential leaks of classified information.{{r|pbp19841218}} The military did not disclose MSEs' names at first, unlike those chosen for Dyna-Soar and MOL, and the program's existence was secret until the press reported on it in 1982. The Air Force officially announced the MSE group's existence in 1983 but did not identify any members until 1985.{{r|peebles}} The press nonetheless reported in great detail on likely military payloads using open source intelligence,{{r|blakeslee}}<ref name="wilford19881204">{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/04/weekinreview/ideas-trends-why-everyone-knew-about-the-secret-shuttle-mission.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm | title=Why Everyone Knew About the Secret Shuttle Mission | work={{wipe|The New York Times}} | date=1988-12-04 | accessdate=February 27, 2012 | author=Wilford, John Noble}}</ref> such as the direction of the shuttle after liftoff.<ref name="wilford19881130">{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/30/us/weather-threatens-to-delay-secret-shuttle-mission.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm | title=Weather Threatens to Delay Secret Shuttle Mission | work=The New York Times | date=1988-11-30 | accessdate=February 28, 2012 | author=Wilford, John Noble}}</ref>

Unlike all other flights, NASA only began public countdowns a few minutes before launch,{{r|wilford19881130}} did not distribute press kits, and did not permit reporters to attend countdowns or listen to shuttle-to-ground communications.<ref name=pbp19841218>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=68MqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=IswFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2640%2C7226499 | title=Secrecy Shrouds Space Shuttle's Military Mission | work=The Palm Beach Post | date=1984-12-18 | accessdate=February 27, 2012 | pages=A1}}</ref> A secure USAF-NRO mission control center (the Air Force Satellite Control Facility) in Sunnyvale, California monitored the DoD payloads on flights alongside the Houston mission control (which focused on the Shuttle and attached support equipment).{{r|cassutt}} NASA announced civilian shuttle missions' schedules and flight routes in advance, hundreds of civilians attended most landings, and loudspeakers played radio transmissions. Only a few reporters and NASA employees, by contrast, attended the classified flights' silent landings.{{r|blakeslee}}

==Difficulties==
The MSE program faced internal and external challenges. NASA, which early on had a "sour"{{r|cassutt}} relationship with the MSEs, was reluctant to assign them to its flights given their lack of NASA training and the need for spots for other payload specialists.<ref name="cassutt1989"/> Payton said in 2016, "NASA thought of us as a bunch of snotty-nosed kids, outsiders, almost guests"; Hamel said that there was "a titanic clash of cultures (between NASA and the Air Force), and the MSEs were at the eye of the storm".<ref name="spellman20170103">{{Cite press release |title=Legacy Panel hosts retired pioneers of Manned Spaceflight Engineer program |date=2017-01-03 |publisher=United States Air Force |location=Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif. |url=https://www.losangeles.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/1040932/legacy-panel-hosts-retired-pioneers-of-manned-spaceflight-engineer-program/ |language=en |last1=Spellman |first1=James Jr. |access-date=2019-09-07}}</ref>

Internal USAF debates on the usefulness of manned spaceflight to the DoD<ref name="cassutt"/> caused uncertainty for MSE personnel. USAF General Ralph G. Jacobson removed Vidrine from [[Engineering:STS-41-C|STS-41-C]] one month before launch, stating that the mission had no value to the Air Force. The military declined the opportunity to send a second MSE on [[Engineering:STS-51-C|STS-51-C]]. In New regulations in 1984 that strongly encouraged USAF personnel to move to another assignment after four years caused many early MSEs to transfer out of the program,<ref name="cassutt1989"/> with only nine active by late 1985.<ref name="blakeslee"/>

==End==
The DoD stated in December 1984 that it planned to use about 20% of the 70 shuttle flights NASA planned over the following five years,{{r|pbp19841218}} with almost all military-related launches moving to the shuttle from unmanned rockets.<ref name="nyt19841219">{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7MMqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=IswFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3549%2C7686455 | title=Nations Sparring In Space / Secrecy 'To Mess' With Soviet Minds | work=The Palm Beach Post | date=1984-12-19 | agency=The New York Times | accessdate=February 27, 2012 | author=Halloran, Richard | pages=A11}}</ref> Before the [[Engineering:Space Shuttle Challenger disaster|loss of ''Challenger'']] in January 1986, however, ongoing launch delays caused DoD to express concern about overdependance on the shuttle. Despite Congressional and NASA opposition, in 1984 DoD began procuring a new unmanned rocket capable of launching shuttle-sized payloads into geosynchronous orbit. In 1985 it won approval to buy ten such rockets, which became the Titan IV.<ref name="day20061120"/><ref name="cassutt1989"/>{{r|aldridge2005fall}} ''Challenger'' accelerated these plans<ref name="cassutt"/>{{r|broad}} but several NRO payloads only the shuttle could launch were grounded until it flew again,<ref name="day20061120"/> a dilemma NRO had feared as early as the mid-1970s.<ref name="day20100111"/>

With DoD's return to unmanned rockets and less need for dedicated military astronauts, the MSE program ended in 1988 with only two MSEs having flown into space. The Houston squadron was dissolved, construction of the Colorado center ended, and the Vandenberg launch site used for unmanned rockets.<ref name="broad">Broad, William J. "[https://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/07/us/pentagon-leaves-the-shuttle-program.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print Pentagon Leaves the Shuttle Program]" ''The New York Times'', 7 August 1989.</ref> Only active duty-military NASA astronauts flew on subsequent missions with DoD payloads, except [[Biography:Story Musgrave|Story Musgrave]] and Kathryn C. Thornton on [[Engineering:STS-33|STS-33]].<ref name="cassutt"/>

==Shuttle missions with classified payloads==
In 1993 a "high-ranking intelligence official" awarded all crewmembers of the classified shuttle flights with the National Intelligence Medal of Achievement. The astronauts were permitted to wear the medals in public and discuss details of their flights that appeared on the medals' citations.{{r|cassutt}}

* [[Engineering:STS-4|STS-4]], 1982 (non-DoD flight with classified DoD payload)
* [[Engineering:STS-51-C|STS-51-C]], 1985 (first all-DoD flight; beginning of secrecy){{r|pbp19841218}}
* [[Engineering:STS-51-J|STS-51-J]], 1985
* [[Engineering:STS-27|STS-27]], 1988
* [[Engineering:STS-28|STS-28]], 1989
* [[Engineering:STS-33|STS-33]], 1989
* [[Engineering:STS-36|STS-36]], 1990
* [[Engineering:STS-38|STS-38]], 1990
* [[Engineering:STS-39|STS-39]], 1991 (first unclassified DoD flight; only one payload was classified)<ref name="cassutt"/>
* [[Engineering:STS-44|STS-44]], 1991 (the payload was unclassified before launch)<ref name="cassutt"/>
* [[Engineering:STS-53|STS-53]], 1992

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}


[[Category:Astronauts]]

{{Sourceattribution|Manned Spaceflight Engineer Program|1}}