Space

Ed earned a BS in Engineering from the University of Rochester (1959), an MS (1961), and a Ph.D. (1965) in engineering and physics from the California Institute of Technology. In 1966, Ed was one of six scientists selected for the first group of Scientist Astronauts out of 1,100 applicants. He earned Air Force wings (1967) at Williams AFB where he graduated second in his class. He has logged over 2,200 hours in high-performance aircraft, 100 hours in helicopters, and 2017 hours in space during his career. Ed supported the Apollo 12 crew by helping design their spacewalks and being their ground communicator (Capcom) during their three Extra Vehicle Activity (EVA) explorations of the moon. In 1973 he and his two crewmates lifted off, rendezvoused with the Skylab Space Station, and remained there for 84 days, which lasted as an American record for 21 years. On that last mission of Skylab, Ed worked outside the space station for 15 hours during three different spacewalks. After his NASA career, Ed entered program management and marketing with Booz, Allen, and Hamilton and with TRW, where he focused on space and energy development. He later served as the President of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry and his own consulting company, Gibson International. He retired as a Senior Vice President with Science Applications International Corporation and as one of two Managers at Aerospace Partners, LLC, and as Chairman of a NASA Independent Review board for America's return to the moon. Ed has also published many technical papers, one textbook (The Quiet Sun, a NASA Publication), many scientific articles for scientific audiences and the general public, and two novels (Reach and In the Wrong Hands) published by Doubleday, Bantam, and the MacDonald Co. in London, Great Britain. Now Ed is publishing this 291-page book "Space-Ever Farther, Ever Faster-Now" in which he describes America's motivations and each individual mission within Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, Apollo-Soyuz, Space Shuttle, International Space Station as well as our return to the Moon and Landings on Mars, and farther out. In 2021, Ed also had asteroid 132603 named after him.