1987 Astronaut Class (Group 12)

NASA selected the first 15 new astronaut candidates since the CHALLENGER accident - seven pilot astronaut and eight mission specialist - in the Summer of 1987. Two woman were among the mission specialists, inluding the first black woman astronaut, Mae C. Jemison. Five civilians and ten military officers comprised the group, including three employees of the Johnson Space Center and one from Marshal Space Flight Center. The candidates were drawn from 117 finalists of an initial 1962 applicants. The 15 selected candidates reported to the Johnson Space Center on August 17, 1987, to begin their one year training program.

Countdown magazine, August 1987, page 19.

The People

The photo above shows the official group photo of the ASCAN 87 class.
Back row: James Shelton Voss, Kevin Patrick Chilton, Curtis Lee Brown, Jr., Andrew Michael Allen and C. Michael Foale.
Middle row: Nancy Jan Davis, Gregory Jordan Harbaugh, Mae Carol Jemison, Kenneth Duane Bowersox and Bruce E. Melnick.
Front row: Mario J. Runco, Jr., Donald Ray McMonagle, Kenneth Stanley Reightler, Jr., Thomas Dale Akers and William Francis Readdy.

The Artwork

The 1987 patch is Shuttle-shaped and bears fifteen smaller stars, symbolizing the 15 candidates, who are aiming for the big star at the top (although the original artwork only has 14 small stars...) The 7 is somewhat shaped like the red NASA vector.

Spot the patch !!!

Members of the STS-45 crew floating in NASA's zero-G plane while training for their upcoming flight (right). Mike Foale is wearing the 1987 Class patch.

Source / Availability

The remake of this patch was done by Randy and Mary Wagner at Cargo Bay Emblems in Virginia. A smaller souvenir version (shown below) was produced by Randy Hunt of Florida. Both versions are still available

Some Fun

The 1987 class are called the "GAFFers", which actualy was an acronym: G.A.F.F stood for; George Abbey Final Fifteen. The name was chosen because shortly after the group was selected George Abbey left his position as Director of Flight Crew Operations. With Abbey not sitting directly on the interview and selection board anymore, group-12 was the last class selected by him, hence his name. The class motto became "What's the rush?". Since this group was selected one year after the Challenger disaster they thought it would be at least 3 years before any member of the class would fly on the Shuttle.

No funny patch has even been spotted for this class.

A Personal Story

..."From the moment Michael had arrived in Houston, he had carefully prepared an application for astronaut training every time they were invited, which, due to the small size of the corps, was not often. He and I had found ourselfs talking on the phone during these attempts, each of which failed. In 1986, Michael arranged to see George Abbey, then a senior member of NASA and now director of the Johnson Space Center, to ask why he was consistently being denied a place. George Abbey said: "I do not normaly answer that kind of question because the answer is so rarely welcome. But in your case, Michael, I am prepared to make an exception. The reason is that you have been too young." In the event, Michael had to wait for acceptance until he was thirty, in 1987. At thirty he was the youngest in his class of sixteen*. They were to include friends like Bill Readdy and Ken Bowersox, who, with their families, have remained close ever since"...

* Don't know why it says 16, the 87 class had only 15 members, could be a typo error in the book.

From: "Waystation to the stars, the story of MIR, Michael and Me.
By Colin Foale, page 42-43