Lost space dreams: How Al Crews missed out on becoming an astronaut — twiceBy Roger Guillemette published February 28, 2020
Crews was in line to fly on two military spacecraft that never made it to orbit.Col. Albert H. "Al" Crews Jr., circa 1960. Crews was a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, a graduate of the Air Force Experimental Test Pilot School, an X-20 Dyna-Soar pilot/astronaut, and a Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) astronaut. (Image credit: Image courtesy of Al Hallonquist.)A half-century ago, on a warm July evening, Albert Crews was sitting in front of a television set in his California home, sharing a communal experience with millions of others around the globe: watching Neil Armstrong take humanity's first steps on the moon.
As Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin explored the lunar surface, Crews was left to ponder: What if? (...)
https://www.space.com/manned-orbiting-laboratory-dyna-soar-astronaut-al-crews.htmlhttps://twitter.com/aisoffice/status/1771443492629197292Congrats to Al Crews who turns 95 today (b. 1929). Selected (1962) X-20; (1965) MOL (Group 1); (1969) after MOL was cancelled he was over the age limit to join the astronaut office but joined JSC Flight Crew Directorate Aircraft Division; (1969-1994) NASA pilot until retirement.