Home - Search - Browse - Alphabetic Index: 0- 1- 2- 3- 4- 5- 6- 7- 8- 9
A- B- C- D- E- F- G- H- I- J- K- L- M- N- O- P- Q- R- S- T- U- V- W- X- Y- Z

---

Nelson, Anthony 'Tony'

---

NASA Official Biography

NAME: Anthony (Tony) Nelson

NASA Astronaut

PERSONAL DATA:

Born September 21, 1931, in Fort Worth, Texas. Married his wife, Jeannie Nelson, formerly of Baghdad, Iraq, on December 2, 1969. One son, Anthony Nelson Jr. Enjoys snorkeling, reading history, and is an accomplished portrait painter and pianist.

EDUCATION:

Graduated from Buck Fonda High School, Fort Worth, Texas; received a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical engineering with highest honors from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1952.

ORGANIZATIONS:

Fellow of the American Astronautical Society (AAS), the Society of Experimental Test Pilots (SETP), and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).

SPECIAL HONORS:

Awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor (1985), 3 NASA Distinguished Service Medals, NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal (1992), NASA Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal (1978), NASA Outstanding Achievement Medal (1971), Air Force Astronaut Wings (1965), Airman's Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, Air Force Outstanding Unit Ribbon, Korean Service Medal, Air Force Longevity Service Ribbon, the Georgia Tech Distinguished Young Alumni Award (1965), Distinguished Service Alumni Award (1971), the Exceptional Engineering Achievement Award (1985), the Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni (1994), and the American Astronautical Society Space Flight Award (1993). Inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1988. Recipient of more than 75 other major awards, including 4 honorary doctorate degrees.

AIR FORCE EXPERIENCE:

Upon graduation from Georgia Tech, Nelson entered the United States Air Force. He received his Air Force wings in 1951 and flew 100 combat missions in Korea in F-86 Sabres with the 334th Fighter Interceptor Squadron. After returning to the United States he was a jet instructor at Bryan, Texas. In 1954, he completed Russian linguist training at the Defence Language Institute in Monterey, California. Following service with the USAF Security Service in 1955-1956, he went to the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California. Following graduation in 1958 he became a test pilot at Edwards, flying the X-1B, X-1E, and X-15 rocketplanes. This was followed by special service attached to the National Security Advisor's staff at the White House from 1960-1963. Promoted to Major, February 1966, and Colonel, June, 1986.

Nelson retired from the Air Force as a Colonel in December 1991, after completing over 40 years of active military service.

NASA EXPERIENCE:

In September 1962, Nelson was selected as an astronaut. He was the only astronaut to fly all major US spacecraft -- the X-15, Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and the Space Shuttle.

Nelson's first flight was Mercury MA-10. The long-duration mission almost ended in tragedy when the capsule landed far off-course on September 18, 1965 on a remote Pacific Island. However Nelson was located and recovered safely.

On 12 September 1966 Tony again flew a Mercury capsule on a classified mission. Amazingly, the spacecraft again went off-course, landing on the same island in the Pacific as his MA-10 capsule a year earlier.

In October 1966 Nelson was in training for an early Apollo-Saturn I mission, but dropped from the crew due to a temporary problem with his eyesight. He soon recovered, and made his first spacewalk from Gemini 13 at the end of the year. This final flight in the Gemini series was made together with Army Major Roger Healey.

In February 1967 Tony was offered a position as the vice president of a leading manufacturer of launch vehicles in Ohio. However he decided to stay with NASA and his astronaut career. Despite this, it was some time before he flew in space again. He trained for a three-month lunar surface stay with physician-astronaut Svetlana Swanson in March 1968, but this mission was canceled due to budget cutbacks. During the rest of that year he became involved with support and flight test of the highly classified 'AGNES' aerospacecraft design. In January 1969 he was given a highly sensitive assignment to replan the Apollo 12 flight.

Nelson made his first Apollo flight together with Army Captain Roger Healey and Navy Commander Winfred Wingate on 24 March 1969. Apollo AAP-1 was a lunar orbit mission that extensively mapped the lunar surface in preparation for later (unfortunately canceled) lunar bases.

The same crew landed on the moon on Apollo AAP-2 in January 1970, with Tony piloting the lunar module to a precision landing. They had to spend three weeks in isolation after their return, since NASA was still concerned about the astronauts bringing lunar germs back to earth.

Following cancellation of the rest of the Apollo AAP program, Tony returned to work on the AGNES program. When this wound up in the early 1980's, he was assigned as a shuttle commander.

Tony's commanded the STS-51-M shuttle flight in October 1985. The classified Department of Defence mission was notable for a near-tragedy when the spacecraft encountered a meteor shower.

Despite plans to retire following this mission, Nelson was promoted to Colonel and received an assignment on the Department of Defence's 'Rightguard' Spacelab project. This led to his final flight in space, a long-duration shuttle STS-46B Spacelab mission, in October 1991. Following this Tony finally retired from NASA and Air Force service. He was the longest-serving astronaut in space history.

In achieving his seven missions over 36 years, Nelson put more than 15,000 hours into training, mostly in simulators and simulations. He also logged more than 13,250 hours flying time in props, jets, helicopters, rocket jets, and spacecraft, including 2,450 hours in his seven space flights.