When discussing astronaut groups, two phrases always come up: the “Original Seven” and the “New Nine”. The names are fairly self explanatory: the Original Seven were the first group of astronauts to be selected by NASA, and include the likes of Deke Slayton, Al Shepard and Gus Grissom. Thanks to the book and film The Right Stuff, the Original Seven are fairly well known and familiar to the general populace.

Not so the New Nine. First and foremost, the second group of astronauts does not quite have the same pull in media terms as those who were picked first. Yet the New Nine are often referred to as the best group of astronauts that NASA ever selected, and when one scans the list of names, it’s easy to see why.

Officially known as “Astronaut Group 2″, the New Nine included two would-be astronauts who had tried out and been rejected during the Original Seven recruitment process. Jim Lovell had been ruled out due to bizarre liver enzyme which was later ruled unimportant, and Pete Conrad had struggled with the invasive testing in the original procedures – and only returned when reassured the second recruitment process would be less fraught. Conrad and Lovell began a “if at first you don’t succeed” mentality that would go on to dominate astronaut selections.

The New Nine are sometimes referred to as the "Gemini astronauts".

Selected in 1962, Astronaut Group 2 dubbed themselves the “New Nine” as a nod to the “Original Seven”. They would not fly the on-going Mercury missions, but would instead focus on the upcoming Gemini flights – and beyond that lay Apollo, and the moon. For this reason, the New Nine are sometimes referred to as the “Gemini astronauts” (just like the Original Seven are often called the “Mercury astronauts”), though the New Nine would go on to be Commanders of several Apollo flights too.

Without further ado, the New Nine were as follows:

Neil Armstrong

An ex-Navy aviator, Armstrong was a civilian at the time of his recruitment. He had been working for NACA (the forerunner to NASA) and had flown the X-15 “space plane”.

Missions Flown: Commander Gemini 8, Commander Apollo 11. The “first man on the moon”.

Frank Borman

Borman, a US Air Force pilot, would fly two missions during his space career. He would also serve on the investigatory board following the Apollo 1 fire.

Missions Flown: Commander Gemini 7, Commander Apollo 8

Charles “Pete” Conrad

Though talented, Conrad had found the medical invasive procedures of screening for the “Original Seven” too much to handle, and he had been rejected on the basis of his attitude. The relatively relaxed procedures of the New Nine meant the Naval Aviator and test pilot tried again, and this time he was successful.

Missions Flown: Pilot Gemini 5, Commander Gemini 11, Commander Apollo 12, Commander Skylab 2

James “Jim” Lovell

Like his close friend Conrad, Lovell had also tried out for the Original Seven – though a medical abnormality had discounted him, it was later ruled unimportant. A Naval aviator and test pilot, Lovell was given the horrid nickname of “Shaky” by Conrad. He, however, would get the last laugh – at the time of his Gemini 12 flight, he became the most travelled man in history.

Missions Flown: Pilot Gemini 7, Commander Gemini 12, Command Module Pilot Apollo 8, Commander Apollo 13

James “Jim” McDivitt

Another Naval aviator, McDivitt would secure a place in history as Commander of Gemini 4 – the first ever American space walk. Though he would leave the astronaut group before the Apollo landing missions began, his contribution and ability is widely recognised.

Missions Flown: Commander Gemini 4 (spacewalk), Commander Apollo 9

Elliot See

See, a US Naval Aviator, was scheduled to be the Commander of Gemini 9. However, he died in a plane crash prior to the mission alongside Charles Bassett – an astronaut in the next recruitment group. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Thomas “Tom” Stafford

A member of the US Air Force, Stafford would become would not only fly Gemini and Apollo Missions, but also the subsequent Apollo-Soyuz joint project with Russia.

Missions Flown: Pilot Gemini 6A, Commander Gemini 9A, Commander Apollo 10, Apollo-Soyuz

Edward “Ed” White

White became a national hero when, as Pilot of Gemini 4, he became the first American to partake in an EVA – that is, to space walk. He was on the prime crew of Apollo 1, but perished in a fire on the launch pad during a test that also killed his two crewmates. He is buried at West Point, a traditional cemetery for Air Force pilots.

John Young

John Young is the perfect example of how the New Nine were more than the “Gemini astronauts”. Not only would he fly Apollo, but he would also fly two shuttle missions, including STS-1 – the maiden flight. He would also become the ninth person on the moon, and would work for NASA for over 40 years.

Missions Flown: (deep breath!) Gemini 3, Gemini 10, Apollo 10, Apollo 16, STS-1, STS-9

Photographs of the New Nine

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New Nine Accomplishments

The New Nine scored a lot of “firsts”, including:

• First man on the moon (Neil Armstrong – Apollo 11)
• First rendezvous of two space craft in space (Tom Stafford, Jim Lovell & Frank Borman – Gemini 6A and Gemini 7 respectively)
• First mission to orbit the moon (Jim Lovell, Frank Borman – Apollo
• First person to travel to the moon twice (Jim Lovell – Apollo 8, Apollo 13)
• First American EVA (Ed White – Gemini 4)
• First docking of two space craft (Neil Armstrong – Gemini

As well as these notable “firsts”, the New Nine contributed:

• Three moonwalkers (Neil Armstrong – Apollo 11, Pete Conrad – Apollo 12, John Young – Apollo 16)
• Two men to travel to the moon twice (Jim Lovell – Apollo 8 and Apollo 13, John Young – Apollo 10 and Apollo 16)
• 178 days, between the whole group, spent in space.
• Participation in five NASA programmes (Gemini, Apollo, Apollo-Soyuz, Skylab and the Space Shuttle)

Other New Nine Trivia:

• As of January 21st 2010, six of the New Nine are still alive. Only one, Pete Conrad (in 1999) died outside of the NASA programme.
• When assembled for the first time at a hotel in Houston, the secrecy surrounding the new astronaut group meant each man had to name himself at the desk as “Max Peck”. The nine “Max Peck”‘s were then directed to a conference room, where they met for the first time.
• It was not until that moment that close friends Jim Lovell and Pete Conrad discovered they had both been selected. They had known each other since their Navy days.
• Despite this, Conrad and Lovell never flew a NASA mission together.
• The first of the New Nine to fly was John Young, on Gemini 3. He replaced Al Shepard (an Original Seven astronaut) when Shepard was declared medically grounded due to an inner ear condition.
• The last flight of a New Nine astronaut was December 8th 1983, when John Young returned to earth above the shuttle Columbia.
• The time between Young’s flights is an incredible 18 years.

Further Information

This video is from a documentary series called NASA: The Greatest Missions. It details the selection and roles of the New Nine.