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 2 damaged station. Jim Lovell, for commanding Apollo 13. Thomas P. Stafford, for commanding the international Cold War Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. Ed White, killed on Apollo 1. John Young, for commanding the first Space Shuttle mission STS-1. The first episode, "Can We Do This?", of the HBO miniseries, "From the Earth to the Moon" depicts the first meeting of the New Nine. The eleventh episode, "The Original Wives' Club", depicts how the space program affected the wives of this group. NASA Astronaut Group 2 NASA's Astronaut Group 2, also known as The New Nine, was the second group of astronauts selected