Edward George Gibson

Born in Buffalo, New York on November 3, 1936, Edward George Gibson overcame childhood osteomyelitis to earn an engineering degree from the University of Rochester and a Master of Science and Ph.D. in engineering and physics from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Selected by NASA in 1965 in its first group of scientist-astronauts, Gibson authored the foundational textbook The Quiet Sun (1973), which became standard reference literature in solar physics. Serving as Capcom for the Apollo 12 moon landing, Gibson was named science pilot for Skylab 4 (SL-4), launching on November 16, 1973, alongside commander Gerald Carr and pilot William Pogue. During their historic 84-day, 1,214-orbit mission (spanning 34.5 million miles), Gibson operated the Apollo Telescope Mount, logging 338 hours of direct solar observations, capturing the birth of a solar flare in progress, and photographing the Comet Kohoutek. Gibson performed three spacewalks (EVAs) totaling 15 hours and 22 minutes. The endurance record set by the Skylab 4 crew stood as the American spaceflight endurance record for over two decades. Gibson was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1997.