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Grounded Musgrave leaving NASA at 61
Turns down job training astronauts
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (CNN) -- Story Musgrave, a free spirit and one of NASA's most experienced astronauts, announced Monday he is leaving the space program after learning he would never make another space flight.
NASA officials told the astronaut a year ago that a November 1996 space shuttle mission would be his last, and re-affirmed that decision last week.
"It was not my decision," the 61-year-old Musgrave said. "It was not a decision I could make."
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Musgrave has made six space flights and had a 30-year career with the space agency. He has conducted medical experiments in space, deployed a defense department satellite and led the mission in December 1993, that did the first round of repairs on the Hubble Telescope.
"Space needs to get turned into art, it needs to be communicated, it needs to be expressed."
Musgrave joined NASA in 1967 during the Apollo program, but had to wait until 1983 for his first space mission, aboard the shuttle.
He also holds two records, one as the oldest person to go into space, the other a tie for the most flights by an individual.
Musgrave said although he would have jumped at the chance of flying in space again, he was not unhappy with the decision. "I'm upbeat about it. I accept it," he said. "I've had one heck of a time of it. I've been able to do this for 30 years."
Musgrave admits to being out of the ordinary, and has talked freely about his belief in the existence of extra-terrestrials. He has tried to communicate with them during his missions using telepathy, but has reported no success.
"Story doesn't necessarily fit the mold when most people think of the steely-eyed original seven astronauts," said David Leestma, director of flight crew operations at NASA's Johnson Space Center. "He brings a free spirit philosophy to the whole thing."
Turns down job training astronauts
Musgrave turned down the opportunity to stay with NASA helping to train new shuttle crews, saying he wanted to pursue new projects.
"They wanted me to stay and work, but I'm a flier," he said. "I know my calling in space is not complete. It's going to move into a different realm.
"I've always wanted to expand my horizons, live life to the fullest I can. I like to do the most with whatever hand I've been dealt, that's the important thing. Make the best use of the opportunity you get."
Musgrave said he was considering offers to host television programs on science, and wanted to find ways of communicating the romance of space flight to the public.
"There's five lifetimes of work out there that people want me to do with them," he said. "Space needs to get turned into art, it needs to be communicated, it needs to be expressed."
Correspondent Marsha Walton and Reuters contributed to this report.
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