Transcending Limits: NASA's Story Musgrave
A Remarkable Story of Character, Perseverance, and Accomplishment
Story Musgrave was born on a dairy farm in Stockbridge, MA. He was in the forests alone at three and, by 5, floated his homebuilt rafts on the rivers. He rode combines at 5, drove trucks and tractors at 10, and when alone in remote fields, repaired them by 13.*
Story never finished high school. He went to Korea with the U.S. Marines, where he was an aircraft electrician and an engine mechanic. He started flying with the Marines and, over the next 55 years, accumulated 18,000 hours in over 160 aircraft.
In August 1967, Story was selected by NASA to be among the first cohort of astronaut-scientists. He served with NASA for over three decades, flying on six spaceflights. His accomplishments in space are legendary—he performed the first shuttle spacewalk on Challenger’s inaugural flight, piloted an astronomy mission, and conducted two classified Department of Defense missions. Most notably, Story played a critical role in the repair of the Hubble Space Telescope, allowing humanity to peer deeper into the universe than ever before.
He is a parachutist with over 800 freefalls. He has seven graduate degrees in math, computers, chemistry, medicine, physiology, literature, and psychology. He has been awarded 20 honorary doctorates. He was a part-time trauma surgeon during his 30-year astronaut career. And Story Musgrave is a poet.
His diverse academic pursuits reflect a worldview that sees all knowledge as interrelated. It suggests that human growth is not limited to mastering one area, but in understanding how everything—from the sciences to the humanities—contributes to a greater understanding of life.
Story’s life is a living reflection of deeper meanings about resilience, curiosity, and human potential. It reminds us that the greatest achievement is not what we do but how we live, how we learn, and how we continue to seek meaning and growth in every aspect of life.
To listen to Story’s SPI narrative, click here. You’ll also find him featured as one of SPI’s PIONEERS IN SCIENCE.
*NASA Astronaut Scholarship Foundation
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