Editing David Scott (section)

==NASA career==
[[File:Astronaut David R. Scott (1964).jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Scott in black suit and tie|Scott in 1964]]

In applying to be part of the [[NASA Astronaut Group 3|third group of astronauts]] in 1963, Scott intended only a temporary detour from a mainstream military career; he expected to fly in space a couple of times and then return to the Air Force.{{sfn|French & Burgess|p=79}} He was accepted as one of the fourteen Group{{nbs}}3 astronauts later that year.{{sfn|Scott & Leonov|pp=84–85}}

Scott's initial assignment was as an astronaut representative at MIT supervising the development of the [[Apollo Guidance Computer]]. He spent most of 1964 and 1965 in residence in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Apollo Guidance Computer: A user's view|last=Scott|first=David|journal=The Computer Museum Report|date=Fall 1982|url=http://klabs.org/history/history_docs/ech/agc_scott.pdf|access-date=February 15, 2019|archive-date=September 28, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928182814/http://klabs.org/history/history_docs/ech/agc_scott.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=David Scott|date=January 2002|publisher=[[Caltech]]|url=https://authors.library.caltech.edu/5456/1/hrst.mit.edu/hrs/apollo/public/people/dscott.htm|access-date=February 15, 2019|archive-date=January 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122142205/https://authors.library.caltech.edu/5456/1/hrst.mit.edu/hrs/apollo/public/people/dscott.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> He served as backup [[Flight controller#Spacecraft communicator (CAPCOM)|CAPCOM]] during [[Gemini&nbsp;4]] and as a CAPCOM during [[Gemini&nbsp;5]].{{sfn|Scott & Leonov|pp=126, 146–147}}

===Gemini 8===
{{Main|Gemini 8}}

After the conclusion of [[Gemini 5]], Director of Flight Crew Operations [[Deke Slayton]] informed Scott that he would fly with [[Neil Armstrong]] on [[Gemini&nbsp;8]].{{sfn|Scott & Leonov|p=147}} This made Scott the first Group{{nbs}}3 astronaut to become a member of a prime crew, and this without having served on a backup crew. Scott was highly regarded by his colleagues for his piloting credentials; another Group{{nbs}}3 astronaut, [[Michael Collins (astronaut)|Michael Collins]], wrote later that Scott's selection to fly with Armstrong helped convince him that NASA knew what it was doing.{{sfn|French & Burgess|pp=79–80}}
[[File:Gemini-Titan-8 Training - Water Egress (7945162054).jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|left|alt=Three men, two of them in space suits, standing on a vessel|Scott (right) and [[Neil Armstrong]] (center) train for water egress.]]

Scott found Armstrong something of a taskmaster, but the two men greatly respected each other and worked well together.{{sfn|French & Burgess|p=80}} They spent most of the seven months before launch in each other's company. One part of the training that Scott undertook without Armstrong was riding the [[Vomit Comet]], where he practiced in preparation for a planned [[Extravehicular activity|spacewalk]].{{sfn|Scott & Leonov|p=154}}

On March 16, 1966, Armstrong and Scott were launched into space, a flight originally planned to last three days. The [[RM-81 Agena|Agena]] rocket with which they were to dock had been launched an hour and forty minutes earlier. They carefully approached and docked with the Agena, the first docking ever accomplished in space. However, after the docking, there was unexpected movement by the joined craft. Mission Control was out of touch during this portion of the orbit, and the astronauts' belief that the Agena was causing the problem proved incorrect, for once they performed an emergency undocking, the spin only got worse. With the spacecraft spinning, there was a risk of the astronauts blacking out or the Gemini vehicle disintegrating. The problem was one of the craft's [[Orbit Attitude and Maneuvering System]] (OAMS) thrusters firing unexpectedly; the crew shut down those thrusters, and Armstrong activated the [[Reaction Control System]] (RCS) thrusters to negate the spin. The RCS thrusters were to be used for reentry, and the mission rules said if they were activated early, Gemini{{nbs}}8 had to return to Earth.{{sfn|French & Burgess|pp=83–87}} Gemini{{nbs}}8 splashed down in the [[Western Pacific Ocean|Western Pacific]] on the day of launch; the mission lasted only ten hours, and the early termination meant that Scott's spacewalk was scrubbed.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[NASA]]|title=Gemini 8|access-date=February 15, 2019|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1966-020A|archive-date=May 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502004146/https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1966-020A|url-status=live}}</ref>

According to [[Francis French (author)|Francis French]] and [[Colin Burgess (author)|Colin Burgess]] in their book on NASA and the [[Space Race]], "Scott, in particular, had shown incredible presence of mind during the unexpected events of the Gemini{{nbs}}8 mission. Even in the middle of an emergency, out of contact with Mission Control, he had thought to reenable ground control command of the Agena before the two vehicles separated."{{sfn|French & Burgess|pp=87–88}} This allowed NASA to check the Agena from the ground, and use it for a subsequent Gemini mission. Scott's competence was recognized by NASA when, five days after the brief flight, he was assigned to an [[Apollo program|Apollo crew]].{{sfn|French & Burgess|p=88}} Along with Armstrong, Scott received the [[NASA Exceptional Service Medal]],<ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[NASA]]|title=All Historical Awards|access-date=April 8, 2022|url=https://searchpub.nssc.nasa.gov/servlet/sm.web.Fetch/Agency_Awards_Historical_Recipient_List.pdf?rhid=1000&did=2120817&type=released|archive-date=December 2, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161202083252/https://searchpub.nssc.nasa.gov/servlet/sm.web.Fetch/Agency_Awards_Historical_Recipient_List.pdf?rhid=1000&did=2120817&type=released|url-status=live}}</ref> and the Air Force awarded him the [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)|Distinguished Flying Cross]] as well. He was also promoted to [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|lieutenant colonel]].<ref name="zanesville" />

===Apollo 9===
{{Main|Apollo 9}}
[[File:Załogi misji Apollo 1 S66-30238.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|right|alt=Six men in flight suits|The prime and backup crews for [[Apollo 1]]. Scott is standing at left.]]

Scott's Apollo assignment was as backup senior pilot/navigator for what would become known as [[Apollo&nbsp;1]], scheduled for launch in February 1967, with [[Jim McDivitt]] as backup commander and [[Russell Schweickart]] as pilot. In that capacity, they spent much of their time at [[Rockwell International|North American Rockwell]]'s plant in [[Downey, California]], where the [[command and service module]] (CSM) for that mission was under construction.{{sfn|Scott & Leonov|p=183}}

By January 1967, Scott's crew had been assigned as prime crew for a subsequent Apollo mission and were at Downey on January 27 when a fire took the lives of the Apollo{{nbs}}1 prime crew during a pre-launch test.{{sfn|Scott & Leonov|p=190}} During the fire, the inward-opening hatch had proved impossible for the astronauts to open, and Scott's post-fire assignment, with all flights put on hold amid a complete review of the Apollo program, was to serve on the team designing a simpler, outward-opening hatch.{{sfn|Scott & Leonov|pp=193–195}}

After the pause, Scott's crew was assigned to [[Apollo 8]], intended to be an Earth-orbit test of the full Apollo spacecraft, including the [[Apollo Lunar Module|Lunar Module]] (LM).{{sfn|Scott & Leonov|p=208}} There were delays in the development of the lunar module and in August 1968, NASA official [[George Low]] proposed that if [[Apollo&nbsp;7]] in October went well, Apollo{{nbs}}8 should go to lunar orbit without a Lunar Module, so as not to hold up the program. The Earth-orbit test would become Apollo{{nbs}}9.{{sfn|Chaikin|pp=56–59}} McDivitt was offered Apollo{{nbs}}8 by Slayton, but turned it down on behalf of his crew (who fully agreed), preferring to wait for [[Apollo 9]], which would involve extensive testing of the spacecraft and was dubbed "a test pilot's dream".{{sfn|French & Burgess|pp=328–329}}

As [[command module pilot]] for Apollo{{nbs}}9 Scott's responsibilities were heavy. The LM was to separate from the CSM during the mission; if it failed to return, Scott would have to run the entire spacecraft for reentry, normally a three-man job. He would also have to go rescue the LM if it could not perform the rendezvous, and if it could not dock, would have to assist McDivitt and Schweickart in performing an [[extravehicular activity]] (EVA) or spacewalk, back to the CSM.{{sfn|Scott & Leonov|pp=215–217}} Scott was somewhat unhappy, though, that CSM-103, which he had worked on extensively, would stay with Apollo{{nbs}}8, with Apollo{{nbs}}9 given CSM-104.{{sfn|French & Burgess|pp=338–339}}
[[File:Gumdrop Meets Spider - GPN-2000-001100.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|left|alt=Astronaut halfway out of spacecraft, Earth in background|Scott stands in the open hatch of the Apollo{{nbs}}9 Command Module ''Gumdrop''.]]

The planned February 28, 1969, launch date was postponed as all three astronauts had head colds, and NASA was wary of medical issues in space after problems on Apollo{{nbs}}7 and Apollo{{nbs}}8.{{sfn|French & Burgess|pp=340–341}} The launch took place on March 3, 1969. Within hours of launch, Scott had performed a maneuver essential to the lunar landing by piloting the CSM ''Gumdrop'' away from the [[S-IVB]] rocket stage, then turned ''Gumdrop'' around and docked with the LM ''Spider'' still attached to the S-IVB, before the combined spacecraft separated from the rocket.{{sfn|French & Burgess|pp=342–343}}

Schweickart vomited twice on the third day in space, suffering from [[space adaptation syndrome]]. He was supposed to do a spacewalk from the LM's hatch to that of the CM the following day, proving that this could be done under emergency conditions, but because of concerns about his condition, simply exited the LM while Scott stood in the CM's hatch, bringing in experiments and photographing Schweickart. On the fifth day in space, March 7, McDivitt and Schweickart in the LM ''Spider'' flew away from the CSM while Scott remained in ''Gumdrop'', making him the first American astronaut to be alone in space since the [[Mercury program]]. After the redocking, ''Spider'' was jettisoned.{{sfn|French & Burgess|pp=343–352}} The LM had gone over 100 miles (160{{nbs}}km) from the CSM during the test.<ref name="nasabio" />

The remainder of the mission was devoted to tests of the command module, mostly performed by Scott; Schweickart called these days "Dave Scott's mission"; McDivitt and Schweickart had much time to observe the Earth as Scott worked. The mission stayed in space one orbit longer than planned due to rough seas in the Atlantic Ocean recovery zone.{{sfn|French & Burgess|pp=352–353}} Apollo{{nbs}}9 splashed down on March 13, 1969, less than four nautical miles (7{{nbs}}km) from the helicopter carrier [[USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7)|USS ''Guadalcanal'']],<ref name="nasabio" /> {{convert|180|mi}} east of the Bahamas.{{sfn|French & Burgess|p=353}}

===Apollo 15===
{{Main|Apollo 15}}
[[File:Apollo 15 landing on the Moon.ogg|thumb|Scott lands the Apollo{{nbs}}15 [[Apollo Lunar Module|Lunar Module ''Falcon'']] on the Moon on July 30, 1971, seen from the perspective of the Lunar Module Pilot. Starts at approximately 5000 feet from the surface.]]
[[File:Apollo 11 David Scott in Mission Control.jpg|thumb|right|alt=A man in a dress shirt and tie wearing a headset|Scott in Mission Control during [[Apollo&nbsp;11]]]]

Scott was deemed to have performed his duties well, and on April 10, 1969, was named backup commander of [[Apollo&nbsp;12]],{{sfn|Worden & French|loc=1771}} with [[Al Worden]] as command module pilot and [[James Irwin]] as lunar module pilot. McDivitt had chosen to go into NASA management, and Slayton had seen Scott as a potential crew commander; Worden and Irwin were working on the support crews for Apollo{{nbs}}9 and Apollo{{nbs}}10, respectively. Schweickart was ruled out due to the space sickness episode. This put the three in line to be the prime crew for [[Apollo&nbsp;15]].{{sfn|Slayton|loc=4232–4246}} Scott's status as backup commander of the next flight allowed him to sit in the Mission Control room as [[Apollo&nbsp;11]], with his old crewmate Armstrong in command, landed on the Moon.{{sfn|Scott & Leonov|pp=245–246}} That Scott, Worden, and Irwin would be the crew of Apollo{{nbs}}15 was announced on March 26, 1970.<ref>{{cite news|title=Crew of Apollo 13 take last big test|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/03/27/archives/crew-of-apollo-13-take-last-big-test.html|date=March 27, 1970|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=February 18, 2019|archive-date=February 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190219072914/https://www.nytimes.com/1970/03/27/archives/crew-of-apollo-13-take-last-big-test.html|url-status=live}}{{subscription required}}</ref>
[[File:Apollo15LunarRover2.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Lunar roving vehicle on Moon|Scott on the [[Lunar Roving Vehicle]]]]

[[Apollo 15]] would be the first [[List of Apollo missions#Alphabetical mission types|J Mission]], which emphasized scientific research, with longer stays on the Moon's surface and the use of the [[Lunar Roving Vehicle]] (LRV). Already having an interest in geology, Scott made time during the training for his crew to go on field trips with [[Caltech]] geologist [[Leon Silver|Lee Silver]]. The scientists were divided over where Apollo{{nbs}}15 should land; Scott's argument for the area of [[Rima Hadley|Hadley Rille]] won the day. As time dwindled towards the launch date, Scott pushed to make the field trips more like what they would encounter on the lunar surface, with mock backpacks simulating what they would wear on the Moon, and from November 1970 onwards, the training version of the LRV.{{sfn|Chaikin|pp=399–408}}

Apollo 15 launched from [[Kennedy Space Center]]'s Launch Complex 39A on July 26, 1971. The outward flight to the Moon's orbit saw only minor difficulties, and the mission entered lunar orbit without incident.<ref name="summary">{{cite web|url=https://history.nasa.gov/afj/ap15fj/a15summary.html|title=Apollo 15 Flight Summary|year=1998|last=Woods|first=W. David|publisher=NASA|access-date=February 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171225233958/https://history.nasa.gov/afj/ap15fj/a15summary.html|archive-date=December 25, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The descent to the Moon by the LM ''Falcon'', with Scott and Irwin aboard, took place on July 30, with Scott as commander attempting the landing.{{sfn|Chaikin|p=412}} Following difficulties caused by the computer-controlled flight path being to the south of what was planned, Scott assumed manual control for the final descent, and successfully landed the ''Falcon'' within the designated landing zone.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a15/a15.landing.html|title=Landing at Hadley|year=1996 |editor-last=Jones |editor-first=Eric M.|work=Apollo 15 Lunar Surface Journal|publisher=NASA|access-date=April 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628230652/http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a15/a15.landing.html |archive-date=June 28, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>

{{Quote box|Man must explore. And this is exploration at its greatest.|width=25%|source=— David Scott<ref>{{cite web|url=https://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a15/a15.lrvdep.html|title=Deploying the Lunar Roving Vehicle|year=1996 |editor-last=Jones |editor-first=Eric M.|work=Apollo 15 Lunar Surface Journal|publisher=NASA|access-date=September 13, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171225232151/https://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a15/a15.lrvdep.html |archive-date=December 25, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>}}

After landing, Scott and Irwin donned the helmets and gloves of their pressure suits and Scott performed the first and only stand-up EVA on the lunar surface,{{refn|group=nb|A stand-up EVA is when the astronaut only partially exits the spacecraft.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://planet4589.org/space/jsr/back/news.601.txt|title=Shuttle and Station|date=October 12, 2008|access-date=April 29, 2019|work=Jonathan's Space Report|archive-date=April 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200425155545/http://planet4589.org/space/jsr/back/news.601.txt|url-status=live}}</ref>}} by poking his head and upper body out of the docking port on top of the LM. He took panoramic photographs of the surrounding area from an elevated position and scouted the terrain they would be driving across the next day.<ref name="nasabio" /> After deploying the LRV from its folded-up position on the side of the LM's descent stage, Scott drove with Irwin in the direction of Hadley Rille. Once there, Scott marveled at the beauty of the scene. While their exploits were followed by a television camera mounted on the rover and controlled from Earth, Scott and Irwin took samples of the lunar surface, including the rock [[Great Scott (lunar sample)|Great Scott]] named after the astronaut, before returning to the LM to set up the [[ALSEP]], the experiments that were to continue to run after their departure.{{sfn|Chaikin|pp=417–422}}
[[File:Apollo 15 feather and hammer drop.ogv|thumb|right|Using a hammer and a feather, Scott validates [[Galileo]]'s theory that objects in a vacuum will fall at the same rate.]]

The second traverse, the following day (August 1) was to the slope of [[Mount Hadley Delta]]. At [[Spur (lunar crater)|Spur Crater]], they discovered one of the most famous lunar samples, a [[plagioclase]]-rich [[anorthosite]] from the early lunar crust, that was later dubbed the [[Genesis Rock]] by the press. On the third day, August 2, they went on their final moonwalk, an excursion cut short by problems with retrieving a core sample. On their return to the LM, Scott, before the television camera, dropped a hammer and a feather to demonstrate [[Galileo]]'s theory that objects in a vacuum will drop at the same rate. After driving the LRV to a position where the camera could view ''Falcon''{{'s}} takeoff, Scott left a memorial to the astronauts and cosmonauts who had died to advance space exploration. This consisted of a plaque bearing their names, and a small aluminum sculpture, ''[[Fallen Astronaut]]'', by Paul Van Hoeydonck. Once this was done, Scott re-entered the LM, and soon thereafter, ''Falcon'' lifted off from the Moon.<ref name="summary" />{{sfn|Chaikin|pp=437–444}}

Apollo 15 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean north of Honolulu on August 7, 1971. The first crew to land on the Moon and not be quarantined on return, the astronauts were flown to Houston, and after debriefing, were sent off on the usual circuit of addresses to Congress, celebrations, and foreign trips that met returning Apollo astronauts. Scott regretted the lack of quarantine, which he felt would have given them time to recover from the flight, as the demands on their time were heavy.{{sfn|Scott & Leonov|pp=319–321, 325–327}}

===Postal covers incident===
{{Main|Apollo 15 postal covers incident}}
[[File:Apollo 15 Flown Cover.jpg|thumb|left|alt=A rectangle with the headline "An Apollo 15 Flown Lunar Postal Cover" with a logo in the middle. Below it are two smaller frames. One has some text certifying that what was below was flown to the Moon and back, signed by flight commander David Scott. Below it is an envelope with stamps, logos and, postmarks.|One of the covers that were taken to the lunar surface]]

The crew had arranged with a friend named Horst Eiermann to carry postal covers to the Moon in exchange for about $7,000 for each astronaut.{{sfn|Faries|p=28}} Slayton had issued regulations that personal items taken in spacecraft must be listed for his approval;{{sfn|Fletcher July 27, 1972, letter|p=3}} which was not done for the covers.{{sfn|Fletcher July 27, 1972, letter|pp=1, 7–9}} Scott carried the covers into the CM in his spacesuit; they were transferred to the LM en route to the Moon and landed there with the astronauts.{{sfn|August 3, 1972, hearing|pp=107–109}} Scott sent 100 of them to Eiermann, and in late 1971, against the astronauts' wishes, the covers were offered for sale by West German stamp dealer Hermann Sieger.{{sfn|Faries|pp=28–29}} The astronauts returned the money,{{sfn|August 3, 1972, hearing|p=77}} but in April 1972, Slayton learned of the unauthorized covers{{sfn|August 3, 1972, hearing|pp=62–63}} and had Scott, Worden, and Irwin removed as backup crew members for [[Apollo&nbsp;17]]. The matter became public in June 1972,{{sfn|Faries|p=29}} and the astronauts were reprimanded for poor judgment by NASA and the Air Force the following month.{{sfn|Chaikin|p=497}}{{sfn|August 3, 1972, hearing|pp=75–76}} The covers that the crew still had were initially impounded by NASA but were in 1983 returned to the astronauts in an out-of-court settlement, as the government felt it could not successfully defend the lawsuit, and that NASA either authorized the covers to be flown or was aware of them.<ref>{{cite news|title=U.S. Returns Stamps to Former Astronauts|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/07/30/us/us-returns-stamps-to-former-astronauts.html|date=July 30, 1983|page=11|access-date=April 29, 2019|archive-date=June 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622172049/https://www.nytimes.com/1983/07/30/us/us-returns-stamps-to-former-astronauts.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The press release that announced the reprimands, dated July 11, 1972, stated that the astronauts' "actions will be given due consideration in their selection for future assignment",<ref>{{cite press release|title=Apollo 15 Stamps|publisher=NASA|date=July 11, 1972|url=https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83124main_1972.pdf|access-date=February 22, 2019|archive-date=February 25, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225161721/https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83124main_1972.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> something that made it extremely unlikely that they would be selected to fly in space again.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marsh|first=Al|title=Astronauts 'Canceled' for 'Stamp Deal'|newspaper=[[Florida Today|Today]]|date=July 12, 1972|pages=12–13}}</ref> ''[[Newsweek]]'' reported that "there are no forthcoming missions for which he [Scott] is being considered".<ref>{{cite news|title=Postmark: The Moon|newspaper=[[Newsweek]]|date=July 24, 1972|page=74}}</ref> Scott related in his autobiography that [[Alan Shepard]], then head of the [[Astronaut Office]], had offered him the choice between backing up Apollo{{nbs}}17 or serving as a special assistant on the [[Apollo-Soyuz Test Project]], the first joint mission with the Soviet Union; Scott had chosen the latter.{{sfn|Scott & Leonov|p=327}} Although a NASA spokesman had stated that Scott had no choice but to leave the Astronaut Corps, and this was reproduced in the press, Slayton's supervisor, [[Christopher C. Kraft]], stated that the Public Affairs Office at NASA had erred, and the transfer was not a further rebuke.{{sfn|August 3, 1972, hearing|pp=158–160}}

===NASA management===
[[File:Center Director David Scott Dryden Dedication (ECN-5137).jpg|thumb|right|alt=Dryden's wife next to a bust of Dryden, Scott by her side|Scott (right) as Center Director at Dryden, 1976]]

In his role with Apollo-Soyuz, Scott traveled to [[Moscow]], leading a team of technical experts. There he met the commander of the Soviet part of the mission, [[Alexei Leonov]], with whom he would later write a joint autobiography.{{sfn|Scott & Leonov|pp=title page, 335–336}} In 1973 Scott was offered the job of deputy director of NASA's [[Dryden Flight Research Center]], located at Edwards, a place Scott had long loved. This allowed Scott to fly aircraft that reached the edge of space, and let him renew his acquaintance with the retired Chuck Yeager who was there as a consulting test pilot, and to whom Scott granted flying privileges.{{sfn|Scott & Leonov|pp=347–349}}

On April 18, 1975, at age 42, Scott became the Center Director at Dryden.<ref name="nm" /> This was a civilian appointment, and to accept it, Scott retired from the Air Force in March 1975 with the rank of [[Colonel (United States)|colonel]].{{sfn|Scott & Leonov|p=350}} Kraft wrote in his memoirs that Scott's appointment "pissed off Deke to his eyebrows".{{sfn|Kraft|p=344}} Scott found the work interesting and exciting, but with budget cuts and the forthcoming end of [[Approach and Landing Tests]] for the [[Space Shuttle]], in 1977 he decided it was time to leave NASA{{sfn|Scott & Leonov|p=380}} and retired from the agency on September 30, 1977.<ref name="nm" />