Apollo 17 backup crew of Apollo 14) would become prime crew of the mission. NASA Director of Flight Crew Operations Deke Slayton ultimately assigned the backup crew of Apollo 14 (Cernan and Evans), along with Schmitt, to the prime crew of Apollo 17. The Apollo 15 prime crew received the backup assignment since this was to be the last lunar mission and the backup crew would not rotate to another mission. However, when the Apollo 15 postage stamp incident became public in early 1972 the crew was reprimanded by NASA and the United States Air Force (they were active duty officers). Director
NASA Astronaut Group 6 1972 but ultimately rejoined the Astronaut Corps for a second nine-year stint in 1979. The requirement for scientists to be trained as jet pilots was eventually lifted with the creation of the Mission Specialist position in the Shuttle Program. The seven members of Group 6 who stayed with the program after Apollo went on to form the core of early Shuttle Mission Specialists, accomplishing a total of 15 flights. NASA Astronaut Group 6 Astronaut Group 6 (the 'XS-11') was a group of eleven astronauts announced by NASA on August 11, 1967, the second group of scientist-astronauts. Although Director of Flight