An Interview with Dr. Stanley White, One of NASA’s First Flight Surgeons

Abstract

BACKGROUND: In the early days of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), medicine in support of the astronauts was led by military experts from the U.S. Air Force as well as experts from the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army. In the early years, a physician with expertise in aerospace medicine was assigned to the Space Task Group and then to NASA. One of these individuals was Dr. Stanley White, a U.S. Air Force physician. To capture more of the early space medicine pioneers, a contract was established between the National Library of Medicine and the principal investigator at the University of Cincinnati to conduct a series of interviews with these early pioneers. An interview with Dr. White took place in his home while he was in hospice care. This audiotaped interview and other written and oral histories within NASA archives and the literature were reviewed to support this work. A series of questions were prepared for the interaction with Dr. White. These questions provided further clarification on his background and contribution. Responses to questions elicited open-ended discussion. The conversation provided a historical summary of Dr. White’s contribution to NASA as one of its first flight surgeons.Doarn CR. An interview with Dr. Stanley White, one of NASA’s first flight surgeons. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2024; 95(4):223–225.