The US Astronauts

The Secrets of Personality Newsletter #5 From the Theory of Eight - Chapter 2

Analysing teams with the Theory of Eight

There’s one well-known set of teams that I thought it worth looking at – the US astronauts.

Sources: NASA library, author's archives

The Astronauts

Astronauts of the Apollo Flights | Apollo 11 - the first moon landing | Commentary on the Moon Landing

Taking just the Majors, in the first Seven chosen for the Mercury program there were:

Ones – 4
Sixes – 1
Fours – 1
Twos – 1

Among the sixteen Gemini program astronauts there were:

Ones – 6
Threes – 3
Fives – 3
Sixes – 2
Fours – 1
Eights – 1

And in the 30 astronauts in the Apollo program there were:

Ones – 9
Fives – 6
Sixes – 6
Threes – 5
Fours – 2
Eights – 2

Among the total of 36 astronauts chosen for the three US flight programs, the Minors represented were: Twos – 10; Eights – 7; Fives – 6; Fours – 4; Threes – 4; Ones – 3; Sevens – 2. No Minor Sixes at all. Not really surprising since 6 is antagonised by 5 and thus likely to lead to a little too much vocal criticism at the expense of the team dynamic. The Minor 8 was initially well represented, but two of them didn’t fly a mission (Slayton, See) and a third, Aldrin was an 8:8 and thus his Minor 8 was more like a Minor 7. So only 4 true Minor Eights flew a mission. 8 is the Antagony to 1, but the team dynamic of 1 is more about the synergy of parallel paths, so the effects of the antagony of 8 to 1 can be overcome relatively easily in the intellectual plane inherent in 8. All the same the paring is unstable, and in fact NASA paired a Minor 8 with a Minor 1 only once in the 20 flights. No Major 7 was ever picked, and only two of the 36 had the 7 Minor.

The dominance of the Landscape Majors

Overal, the Landscape Major signs predominate. We might expect 25% out of a random selection. But NASA picked twice as many: 56% in the Gemini, 50% in the Apollo. Obviously you want quick rational minds who can fulfil a plan, follow instructions, keep their minds on the practical issues and are team players. Powerful and energetic and rational Threes, who resolve to the Landscape sign of 5, are also strongly represented. Ones, Fives and Threes commanded every mission in the Gemini and Apollo programs but for three flights out of a combined total of 20 (and two of these were commanded by the same man - Neil Armstrong), and half of all flights were commanded by Ones.

NASA’s preferred Major and Minor combinations among the astronauts were: 1:2 (six selected) then 6:4 (three ), then 1:8 (two), 3:8 (two), 4:8 (two), 5:2 (two), 5:5 (two).

In the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs out of the 15 astronauts who flew more than once, 9 had a Landscape Major ( 1or 5), and two had the Major 3 (resolving to 5) :
Four Flights:
John Young - 5:3;James Lovell - 1:4
Three Flights:
Thomas Stafford - 5:2; Wally Schirra - 1:1; Eugene Cernan - 1:2; Charles Conrad - 3:8; Dave Scott – 3:8
Two Flights:
Frank Borman – 1:2; Virgil Grissom – 1:5; Gordon Cooper – 1:8; Richard Gordon – 5:5; Neil Armstrong – 4:3; Michael Collins – 6:2; Sam Shepherd – 6:5; Buzz Aldrin – 8:8

The Apollo Flights

If we look at the Apollo flights where the crews were made up of three astronauts the picture is even more clear. NASA's job was to find, out of their already selected group of astronauts, crews who could best fulfil the flight plans for each flight.

Apollo 7 – first Apollo space flight in Earth orbit. For the crew of any first flight, there is a tight schedule, checking the basic systems, being alert to errors and with a courageous but pragamatic attitude to the new risks of the new spacecraft. This was a relatively long stay in space (10 days, the length of time of the planned Moon missions) with a full program of testing to be done. There was also the testing of live TV transmissions so a certain amount of personableness and ability to communicate was probably a factor to consider. NASA selected a 1:1, 3:3 and a 1:2. No Major Antagonies and while a Minor 2 might antagonise a 3, the double 3 in this crew has a Minor more like a 2 than a 3.

Apollo 8 – this second flight went to and orbited the moon. In this mission, the first manned flight to leave Earth orbit, all the mechanical and support facilities had to be critically tested, along with additional techniques of navigation and communication. NASA chose a 1:2, 1:4; 6:7. It’s worth noting again that none had a Major antagony with another and that there was no Major or Minor 5 to antagonise the 6.

Apollo 9 – Another long flight in earth orbit testing all the flight hardware and techniques for the full Lunar mission. The Lunar Module was flown for the first time and tested, clarifying the full range of roles that each team member had to fulfill. Again, energetic and critical minds were needed to follow the strict program of examination and testing. NASA chose a 3:1, 3:8, 6:1. The two Lunar Module pilots were the 3 :1 and the 6 :1 – perfectly compatible.

Apollo 10 – This went to the Moon in a full dress rehearsal of the Moon landing procedures. A complete simulation of a moon landing was done in Moon orbit. This was to be the final flight before the actual moon landing, so all systems had to be examined for any potential pitfalls. NASA chose a 1:2, 5:3, 5:2. In this case the Lunar Module pilots were the 1:2 and the 5:2. Again, perfectly compatible with eath other, although the commander embodied an internal conflicts with his Minor, making him naturally suspicious of the arranged flight plan and ready to let a function drop if it conflicted with the fundamental goals of the flight.

Apollo 11 – I’ll discuss this unusual flight at the end.

Apollo 12 – After the success of the moon landing, this flight extended the mission parameters. NASA chose 3:8, 5:5, 1:2. As an interesting aside, the reason why there are few pictures of the surface activity was that Al Bean (1:2) accidently pointed the video camera at the sun, burning out the tube. He subsequently left the Astronaut corps to become an artist, painting imaginary pictures of astronauts on the moon.

Apollo 13 – was to have gone to hilly country for a geological mission. NASA chose a 1:4, 5:7, 6:4, replacing at the last minute a 1:2 (neatly compatible with both the 1:4 and the 6:4), with a 5:7. The recent film Apollo 13 quite neatly expressed (by accident perhaps) the Antagony of Swigert (5:7) to Haise (6:4)

Apollo 14 – A great deal of rock gathering and instrument setting. NASA chose a 6:5, 4:5, 5:2. The LEM crew where the 6 :5 and the 5 :2. No doubt there was a certain amount of critical tension in the air between them all. Shepard, the first American in space, a 6 with his own internal conflict with 5, would be antagonised by the 5 of his LEM pilot. The Command module pilot was a 4, with his own internal conflict with 5, and who would have antagonised the Major 5. The 5:2 would have spent many ‘happy’ hours finding ways (through his Minor 2) of diverting these conflicts and making them work for the team. This mission, Apollo 15, and Apollo 13 were the only times NASA produced a team with a Major conflict. And it was the single time that there was a Major conflict between those on the Lunar surface.

Apollo 15 – Greater scientific payload. Stayed twice the length of time on the moon as previous missions. 3 EVAs. First use of the electric cart to roam the moon’s surface. NASA chose a 3:8, 1:2, 8:3

Apollo 16 – with more experiments to be done and a long surface stay time, NASA chose a 5 :3, 1:2, 5:5, with the energetic duo of the 5:3 and the 5:5 as the LEM team.

Apollo 17 – the final mission and the longest stay time. The team ranged over 30 kilometers. NASA chose a 1:2, 6:4, 3:5. The Lunar excusion pair were the 1 :2 and the 3 :5

The First Moon Landing

Apollo 11 – For this adventure into the unknown, where the moon landing and take-off had never been attempted before, NASA chose a team that stands out above all others. There was not a single Landscape Major or Minor in it. The landing, on 20 July 1969, took place in TO8 Day 24 which is the time of a 4:8, the axis of conceptual thought and spiritual identity. One could hardly ask for a better time in which to realise an action out of the soul of Man.

Never before or after did NASA choose a team that had no Landscape signs in it. But for this one exceptional mission, attempting what had never been attempted before, they chose a team that was neither rash nor bound by any rules of precedent; a team that could be intellectual and creative where necessary; a team that would be quick to react to the unusual and ready with solutions but one that would not be distracted by the exceptional or drawn into false trails and conclusions. The situation was no longer a limited experimental one that simply required experienced test pilots. Landing, performing tasks, launching, rendevousing, was a complex set of activities and routines performed as it where in a public theatre. There were, suddenly, many more dimensions to the adventure. NASA chose:
Neil Armstrong (commander and first man on the moon)– 4:3, Michael Collins (Command module pilot) – 6:2, Buzz Aldrin (LEM pilot) – 8:8

Armstrong
In spite of his occasional irritableness and sparks of curious reasoning, Armstrong’s internal conflict reduces the likelihood of him giving rein to power plays as mission commander. His Minor 3 gives him mental speed and energy to see through to the solutions to any problem at the moment they are required, and it keeps his imagination in check, requiring him to find solutions through rationality.

Fours, anxious about doing the wrong thing in many everyday situations and about their place in the world nevertheless have a disregard of visceral fears normal to most. They are familiar with terrors but they are not disabled in any way by fears. They have an almost child-like trust that the outcome will be all right.

Armstrong’s four gives him modesty in, and a certain amount of awe of, his role of the first man on the moon. The Minor 3 would help to counterbalance anxiety about his exposed position with self-belief. He may have been modest,but he would also have been satisfied. Even so, he still fluffed his important line - a very 4 trait. He meant to say 'that's one small step for a man..." You can hear the pause while he ponders about correcting the error. Fours have a tendency to over do, which, coupled with his Minor 3, would give Armstrong an extremely controlling attitude to his work. He would have been able to take any of his team’s roles and fulfil them completely. He’s extremely visual, with an uncanny ability to see through illusions to what things really are. Nevertheless, he would sometimes be apt to be more definite about conclusions than the evidence warranted. During the final stages of the descent to the moon, Armstrong took manual control of the LEM and moved it forward out of the large crater that the landing program was taking them into. He landed with only a handful of seconds of fuel left before he would have been obliged to abort the landing. Hence the remark by the Capcom in Huston after Aldrin (the LEM pilot) had announced that they had landed - "..You've got a bunch a guys about to turn blue, we're breathing again.."

NASA must have recognised his tendency to leap to conclusions, for on his previous Gemini flight they paired Armstrong with a 3:8 (who won’t take any overbearing attitudes to data or to conclusions). The flight ended in near disaster shortly after their craft had docked with an Agena rocket. Then, Armstrong had to take manual control of the uncontrollable spinning capsule and make the first emergency landing of a US spacecraft. Later, on Apollo 11, NASA balanced Armstrong with LEM pilot Buzz Aldrin (who had on an earlier Gemini Mission flew with Jim Lovell, a 1:4).

Aldrin
Buzz Aldrin was the only 8:8 ever chosen, but the perfect adjunct to Armstrong. An 8:8 would have put all emotion behind him while he focussed intently on mental calculation and precision of action. An 8:8 would never take anyone’s word for anything, and prefer to look over and correct all data given to him, and to ponder all instructions for faults. At the same time, the double sign would give him a sense of awe and wonder at his mission and the at the mystery of the human experience that created it. He would be self-conscious about trying to find a place for that experience alongside his need for peace and contentment in his private world.

Aldrin, living an intense life of the mind, would feel wholely responsible for the consequences of his every action, and alert to false readings and other signs leading him astray from the objective. But his double sign nature would make him perfectly accepting of the structure of the flight and the parameters within which he would have to be working, even though they would have decided elsewhere.

Collins
Michael Collins was a 6:2, embodying the complimentary axis to the 4:8 that united Armstrong and Aldrin. An organiser, filer, critic, keeping the external connections with the team balanced, Collins would have tended to be the day-to-day spokesman of the group and self-appointed diary-keeper, keeping tabs on the agenda and making sure the team had all the resources they needed. (It is worth remembering that although Armstrong was the mission commander, he had been a civilian test pilot , and there may have been good reasons for selecting him as the first to set foot on the moon, while both Aldrin and Collins were Air Force officers). During the moon landing, the image of the ‘father’ staying aloft in space keeping an overal eye on things while his ‘children’ headed off to explore was probably not far off describing the inner personality dynamics of the team.

Commentary

All three were born the same year (1930). Aldrin the eldest (b. January), then Armstong (b. August) then Collins (b. October). During the Moon landing there are some interesting points to make about the Essential Year for each of them.

Aldrin would be in the period of 5:4, while both Armstong and Collins would be in 5:3. While the TO8 period during the mission was 4:8, the personal dominance of 5 in their Essential Year’s would foster a sense of communication, team spirit and belief in the outcome, but, at the same time, intensifying their perception of the individual roles each of them had to play. But 4 antagonises 5, so Aldrin’s mood, however, would have been tinged with private concerns about his contribution and status within the team, and his feelings of self-reliance would have been taking a knock.

Certainly, as an 8, Aldrin would have been less than comfortable with the media circus in the flight’s aftermath. The idea of roaming around the world on show, especially cooped up in the quarantined caravan, must have been a nightmare for him.

Collins, on the other hand, a 6 (resolving to 8), would have taken to the publicity whirl with a graveness that belied his joy at the recognition from all and sundry. He would have been able to place the mission in the grander scheme of things for Mankind and to accept his role as a participant. The mission would have marked a change in style for him (he grew a moustache in quarantine), and make him almost breathe a sigh of relief that he had got such an achievement under his belt and that now he could concentrate on a more personal agenda.

Armstrong, similarly, would have been quietly happy to accept the praise as his due, and he would no doubt think of the mission as a culmination of one phase of his life. His internal conflict would change over in the years to come (resolving to 6:5), and where he might have been worried about faults in his own character and work, he would, within his own discipline, become more of a critic of established ways and means. From here Armstrong would go on to teach astronautic engineering, no doubt giving his pupils some sparky opinions on the engineering that had got him and others to the moon and back.

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