Should astronauts be airplane test pilots, scientists, or a combination of the two? All present U.S. astronauts are primarily pilots, and a strong faction in the space business believes that their nerve, quick reactions and experience with flight controls are the indispensable attributes of a successful spaceman. Equally passionate scientists point out that spacecraft are not airplanes and cannot be flown in the same way. Space commanders of the future, they believe, will be cerebral types, at home with electronics, celestial mechanics and computer calculation.
Partisans of both sides of the argument...
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