Colonel Jerry Carr was one of the 19 astronauts selected by NASA in April 1966. He served as a member of the astronaut support crews and as CAPCOM for the Apollo 8 and 12 flights and was involved in the development and testing of the lunar roving vehicle, which was used on the lunar surface by Apollo flight crews. He has logged more than 8,000 flying hours, 5,365 hours of which are jet time. Carr retired from the United States Marine Corps in September of 1975 and from NASA in June of 1977.

The terms trajectory and orbit both refer to the path of a body in space. Trajectory is commonly used in connection with projectiles and is often associated with paths of limited extent, i.e., paths having clearly identified initial and end points. Orbit is commonly used in connection with natural bodies (planets, moons, etc.) and is often associated with paths that are more or less indefinitely extended or of a repetitive character, like the orbit of the Moon around the Earth.

Project Gemini was the second human spaceflight program of NASA, the civilian space agency of the United States government. Project Gemini was conducted between projects Mercury and Apollo, with ten manned flights occurring in 1965 and 1966.

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from November 1, 1955 to the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975.

In June of 1990, Vice President Quayle and Admiral Richard Truly, then NASA Administrator, asked General Stafford to Chair a team to independently advise NASA how to carry out President Bush's vision of returning to the Moon, this time to stay, and then go on to explore Mars. General Stafford assembled teams of 40 full-time and 150 part-time members from the DOD, DOE and NASA, and completed the study called "America at the Threshold", a road map for the next 30 years of the U.S. Manned Space Flight Program. General Stafford and Vice President Quayle held a joint Press Conference at the White House in June 1991 to announce the recommendations to the public. The Clinton Administration directed a review of all federally funded research and development plans of the Executive Branch in 1994. Gen. Stafford chaired the committee to review and make recommendations to enhance the efficiency of the R&D initiatives of the NASA Human Exploration Enterprise that included JSC, KSC, and MSFC.

Have you ever wondered if you have what it takes to become a NASA Astronaut? The term "astronaut" derives from the Greek words meaning "space sailor" and refers to all who have been launched as crew members aboard NASA spacecraft bound for orbit and beyond. Since the inception of NASA's human space flight program, we have also maintained the term "astronaut" as the title for those selected to join the NASA corps of astronauts who make "space sailing" their career profession. The term "cosmonaut" refers to those space sailors who are members of the Russian space program.

This interview came from the Story Preservation Initiative. They are actively "preserving the stories of our lives by capturing the voices, words, and meanderings of artists, scientists, writers, poets, musicians, and eyewitnesses to history. Listen, learn, and be amazed!"

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