The Astronaut Maker

June 4, 2018
Cassutt (coauthor of We Have Capture) traces the arc of American space flight in this captivating biography of a NASA figure largely unknown to the general public despite his essential contributions to the lunar missions and the Space Shuttle. Over an almost 40-year career, George Abbey rose through the agency’s ranks, from his start in 1964 as a low-level engineer, to become the director of flight operations for the Johnson Space Center, and eventually the center’s director. Drawing on interviews with Abbey and about 50 others, Cassutt renders a balanced account of his subject’s life that doesn’t shy away from negatives, such as a reputation as a “dictator” among his colleagues, or the obsessive dedication to work that exacted a toll on Abbey’s family life. But those failings are put in perspective by Abbey’s immense contributions to space science, including his advocacy, as the person responsible for the selection and training of astronauts, for the recruitment of women and minorities. NASA buffs will be fascinated by this profile of an undervalued figure whose most significant legacy, Cassutt concludes, was at the human level—making “spaceflight available to all, regardless of citizenship, gender, color, or ethnic background.” Agent: Stephen Barr, Writers House.

June 15, 2018
A highly detailed history of the American space program focusing on the contributions of George Abbey (b. 1932), who held various key administrative positions at NASA.Cassutt--a TV screenwriter and producer who has written extensively about the space program (fiction and nonfiction), including co-authoring the autobiographies of notables like astronaut Thomas Stafford (We Have Capture, 2002, etc.)--returns with a biography of Abbey that also serves as a history of the enterprise. The combined biographical material would probably fill only a chapter or so--we learn about Abbey's background, marriage, children, and divorce, the causes of which the author doesn't discuss--for Cassutt is principally interested in Abbey's role(s) in NASA, which were considerable. He selected astronauts, organized the various offices around him, and displayed a phenomenal memory. He was a workaholic who earned the respect, if not always the affection, of his co-workers. (Cassutt, however, offers few discouraging words about him.) The text is consistently rich in detail, sometimes overly so. Cascades of names, abbreviations, dates, and events wash over us; as they do, our admiration for Cassutt's knowledge and research increases as our ability to swallow it declines. He has few unkind words for anyone--though one iconic figure who does endure some disparagement is test pilot Chuck Yeager. In chronological fashion, the author takes us from Sputnik to the present, and he discusses all the grand achievements (moon landing, 1969), failures (Challenger, 1986; Columbia, 2003), and in-between moments. We get to know a bit about the astronauts' personalities and politics, and we see Abbey's evolving efforts to be more inclusive in the selection of personnel. As the director of the Johnson Space Center in the 1990s, "he was in charge of twenty thousand civil servants and contractors not only Houston, but in locations such as White Sands."Space-program aficionados will gobble the details like snack chips, and all should be grateful to see Abbey, a deserving man, step out from the shadows.

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Starred review from July 1, 2018

The remarkable NASA career of George Abbey (b. 1932) spanned 37 years, from the inception of the Apollo program to the construction of the International Space Station. Despite his importance to the agency, Abbey's major contributions rarely made the press, and he was sometimes characterized in a negative light: "a Godfather type." Cassutt (Who's Who In Space) magnificently details Abbey's rise in authority, including his selection of every astronaut class from 1978 through 1987; appointment of flight crew members and schedules; dustups with contractors; close relationships with astronauts and mission specialists; recovery efforts following Apollo 13's debacle; contributions to collaborations between the United States and Russia; and recruitment of women and minorities as space shuttle astronauts, most notably Sally Ride in 1983. In 1996, Abbey was appointed director of the Johnson Space Center and put solely in charge of all U.S. human spaceflight. Regrettably, an overrun on the International Space Station cost him the directorship, and in 2003, Abbey severed his ties with NASA, becoming a senior fellow in space policy at Rice University's Baker Institute. VERDICT A must-read for all captivated by America's space programs and, until now, the underappreciated efforts of a man who helped make it all possible.--John Carver Edwards, formerly with Univ. of Georgia Libs.

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