David Baker (author)
David Baker (born 1944) is a prolific British space author and self-described space scientist. His description of his career is that he first visited the US in 1962[1] and returned to work for NASA on the Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle programs between 1965 and 1984[2] as a Mission Planning and Analysis Department. He reports that he was present at NASA during Apollo 13 in 1970.
David Baker | |
|---|---|
| Born | 3 June 1944  Lincolnshire |
| Occupation | Scientist, author |
He returned to the UK in 1984 and set up an independent consultancy helping countries around the world including India to develop and integrate commercial space technologies for their national space programmes.
He now works as a journalist, writer and an author. He has published thousands of articles, more than 100 books and contributed to many radio and TV documentaries about space missions in the US and Europe. In the past, he has edited the Aerospace Review, Jane's Aircraft Upgrades and Jane's Space Directory. He is a fellow of the British Interplanetary Society (BIS) and from 2011 until his resignation in 2021 he was the editor of the BIS's monthly journal, Spaceflight.
Allegations of fraud
On 18 March 2021, David Whitehouse, a science journalist and former BBC News science editor, raised allegations on Twitter that Baker's reported professional credentials and Apollo career history were fraudulent.[3][4][5] The BIS issued a statement on 21 March that it was aware of these allegations, and that the Society would "re-consider any impact of these allegations on the Society".[6] On 25 March 2021, Baker resigned as editor of Spaceflight.[7]
Bibliography
- The Race for Space – The Story of the space race in six volumes written with co-author Anatoly Zak (2018)
- The Apollo Missions: The Incredible Story of the Race to the Moon (from 29 June 2019)
- Baker, David, ed. (1999). Jane’s Space Directory 1999–2000 (15th ed.). Surrey: Jane's Information Group. ISBN 0-7106-1919-7.
- Baker, David, ed. (2001). Jane’s Space Directory 2001–2002 (17th ed.). Surrey: Jane's Information Group. ISBN 0-7106-2330-5.
- Baker, David, ed. (2002). Jane’s Space Directory 2002–2003 (18th ed.). Surrey: Jane's Information Group. ISBN 0-7106-2448-4.
- Baker, David, ed. (2004). Jane’s Space Directory 2004–2005 (20th ed.). Surrey: Jane's Information Group. ISBN 0-7106-2638-X.
- Baker, David, ed. (2004). Jane’s Space Directory 2005–2006 (21st ed.). Surrey: Jane's Information Group. ISBN 0-7106-2706-8.
References
- "Interview: former NASA scientist David Baker | BBC Sky at Night Magazine". www.skyatnightmagazine.com. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
- Grossman, Lisa (12 April 2011). "Human Spaceflight's 50th: The Glorious Past and Uncertain Future". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Archived from the original on 23 September 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
- Whitehouse, David [@drdwhitehouse] (18 March 2021). "Space Author's 42-year fake Ph.D." (Tweet). Retrieved 27 March 2021 – via Twitter.
- Whitehouse, David [@drdwhitehouse] (18 March 2021). "David Baker claims to have worked for NASA for 25 years. He said he played a vital role in A11 and esp A13. Apollo vets have never heard of him, in fact they are outraged. His prof career is a fake" (Tweet). Retrieved 27 March 2021 – via Twitter.
- Whitehouse, David [@drdwhitehouse] (22 March 2021). "In David Baker's Haynes Manual on Apollo 13 he outlines the work he did at Mission Control. Yet in his book published a decade later there are 13 pages on A13 with no mention of his involvement. Also a press cutting of the time has him in the UK" (Tweet). Retrieved 27 March 2021 – via Twitter.
- British Interplanetary Society [@BIS_spaceflight] (21 March 2021). "Statement regarding allegations against David Baker" (Tweet). Retrieved 25 March 2021 – via Twitter.
- British Interplanetary Society [@BIS_spaceflight] (25 March 2021). "David Baker has tendered his resignation as Editor of our SpaceFlight magazine. The BIS has accepted this, and will announce a new interim Editor to take on the role from the June 2021 issue" (Tweet). Retrieved 25 March 2021 – via Twitter.