Military Wiki
Francis G. Neubeck
Francis G. Neubeck 1960s
Born April 11, 1932(1932-04-11) (age 92)
Place of birth Washington, D.C.

Francis Gregory Neubeck (born April 11, 1932) is a retired colonel in the United States Air Force and a former USAF astronaut. Although he trained for the USAF Manned Orbital Laboratory (MOL), the program was cancelled before any of the MOL crews reached space.[1]

Neubeck was born in Washington, D.C. and graduated in 1955 from the United States Naval Academy. Although a USNA graduate, he chose to begin his career in the United States Air Force. In 1972, he earned a master's degree in business administration from Auburn University in Alabama.[2]

At the start of his USAF career, Neubeck worked on the development of weapons systems and as a flight instructor.[3] He graduated from the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School in class 60C, Aerospace Research Pilot School (ARPS) Class III, and MOL.[4] In 1965, he was selected as one of the first astronauts to the Air Force's classified Manned Orbital Laboratory.[5] The goal of the MOL program, canceled in 1969 before sending any astronauts into space, was to man a space station with military astronauts using a modified Gemini spacecraft.[6] The history of the MOL program was presented in the Public Television series NOVA episode called Astrospies which aired February 12, 2008.[7]

After the MOL program cancellation, Neubeck continued his USAF career including a combat tour in south-east Asia.[3] He also served as vice commander at the Tactical Air Warfare Center at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida before retiring from the Air Force in 1986.[2] Neubeck worked in the aerospace industry, became an author, and ran for public office.[3] In 1986, he became the Republican nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's first congressional district but was not elected. As of 2007, Neubeck resides in Florida.[2]

References[]

  1. "Space and Missile Systems Center History" (PDF). USAF. 2006-09-12. pp. 60–62. http://www.losangeles.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-060912-028.pdf. Retrieved 2008-10-11. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Astrospies Neubeck biography". NOVA. PBS. December 2007. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/astrospies/prof-05.html. Retrieved 2008-10-11. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Shayler, David J. (2001). Gemini: Steps to the Moon. Springer Press. p. 418. ISBN 9781852334055. http://books.google.com/books?id=c8PpO58QwowC. Retrieved 2008-10-11. 
  4. USAF Test Pilot School 50 Years and Beyond. Privately Published. 1994. p. 247. 
  5. "Secret Astronauts". NOVA. PBS. December 2007. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/astrospies/profiles.html. Retrieved 2008-10-11. 
  6. Nutter, Ashley (2008-06-02). "Suits for Space Spies". NASA. http://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/features/found_mol_spacesuits.html. Retrieved 2008-10-10. 
  7. "Astrospies". NOVA. PBS. December 2007. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/astrospies/. Retrieved 2008-10-10. 

External links[]

All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at Francis G. Neubeck and the edit history here.