Claim: Some of NASA Astronaut Group 7 members are Karol J. Bobko (Bachelor of Science degree in aerospace engineering) and Robert L. Crippen (ranked 27th in the first graduating class of the United States Air Force Academy).
Evidence: Karol J. Bobko Bobko was ranked 27th in the first graduating class of the United States Air Force Academy, from which he received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1959. He became its first graduate to become an astronaut. He graduated from the ARPS with class 65-C in 1965, and earned a Master of Science degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Southern California in 1970. Bobko was a member of the support crew for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in July 1975 and the Space Shuttle Approach and Landing Tests at Edwards Air Force Base in 1977. He flew in space three times: as pilot of STS-6, the maiden flight of the Space Shuttle Challenger in April 1983; as commander of STS-51-D in the Space Shuttle Discovery in April 1985; and as commander of STS-51-J , the maiden flight of the Space Shuttle Atlantis in October 1985, and is the only astronaut to have flown on the maiden flights of two space shuttles. He retired from NASA on November 30, 1988, and from the USAF with the rank of colonel on January 1, 1989. Robert L. Crippen Crippen received a Bachelor of Science degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas in 1960, and was commissioned in the US Navy through its Aviation Officer Candidate School. He graduated from the ARPS with class 65-A in 1965. Crippen was a member of astronaut support crew for the Skylab 2, 3, and 4 in 1973 and 1974, and the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in July 1975. He flew in space four times. His first mission was in April 1981 as pilot of STS-1, the first Space Shuttle mission and the maiden flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia. He subsequently commanded three missions in the Space Shuttle Challenger: STS-7 in June 1983, STS-41-C in April 1984, and STS-41-G in October 1984. He served as deputy director for Shuttle Operations at the Kennedy Space Center from 1986 to 1989; director of the Space Shuttle Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC, from 1990 to 1992; and director of the Kennedy Space Center from 1992 to 1995. He retired from the Navy with the rank of captain in 1991, and from NASA in 1995.