Don L. Lind - NASA Career

NASA Career

From 1964, Lind worked at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center as a space physicist. He was involved in experiments to determine the nature and properties of low-energy particles within the Earth's magnetosphere and interplanetary space. Lind applied for NASA's third group of astronauts but did not have enough flight hours, and was too old for the fourth group. After the age restriction changed, he was among the fifth group, the "Original Nineteen", selected in April 1966.

Although pilots comprised the Original Nineteen (unlike the fourth and sixth groups, which included only scientists), Deke Slayton assigned Lind to science-related tasks due to his doctorate. For the Apollo program he helped to develop the tools used on the lunar surface, and was a possible crewman of one of the canceled missions. Lind served as backup pilot for Skylab 3 and Skylab 4, the second and third manned Skylab missions; was on standby for a rescue mission planned when malfunctions developed on Skylab 3; and was a possible crewman of Skylab B.

For the shuttle program Lind was also a member of the Astronaut Office's Operations Missions development group, responsible for developing payloads for the early Space Shuttle Orbital Flight Test (OFT) missions, and the Canadarm. He finally flew as a Mission Specialist on STS-51-B (April 29 to May 6, 1985), logging over 168 hours in space. Lind waited longer than any other American for his first spaceflight, 19 years. 16 members of the Original Nineteen, as well as 14 in later astronaut groups, flew in space before him.

Lind left NASA in 1986 and for nine years served as a professor of physics and astronomy at Utah State University.