David Baker (author)
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{{Short description|British writer}}
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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{{Cite web|url=http://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/news/interview-former-nasa-scientist-david-baker|title=Interview: former NASA scientist David Baker {{!}} BBC Sky at Night Magazine|website=www.skyatnightmagazine.com|access-date=2019-01-15}} and returned to work for NASA on the Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle programs between 1965 and 1984{{Cite news|url=https://www.wired.com/2011/04/human-spaceflight-david-baker/|title=Human Spaceflight's 50th: The Glorious Past and Uncertain Future|last=Grossman|first=Lisa|date=12 April 2011|work=Wired|access-date=2019-01-15|issn=1059-1028 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200923193233/https://www.wired.com/2011/04/human-spaceflight-david-baker/ |archive-date=23 September 2020}} as a Mission Planning and Analysis Department. He reports that he was present at NASA during Apollo 13 in 1970.
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.{{cite tweet |last=Whitehouse |first=David |user=drdwhitehouse |number=1372550864699850765 |title=Space Author's 42-year fake Ph.D. |date=18 March 2021 |access-date=27 March 2021}}{{cite tweet |last=Whitehouse |first=David |user=drdwhitehouse |number=1372574660756406278 |title=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. |date=18 March 2021 |access-date=27 March 2021}}{{cite tweet |last=Whitehouse |first=David |user=drdwhitehouse |number=1373947811281113094 |title=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. |date=22 March 2021 |access-date=27 March 2021}} 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".{{cite tweet |author-link=British Interplanetary Society |user=BIS_spaceflight |number=1373686308514762756 |title=Statement regarding allegations against David Baker |date=21 March 2021 |access-date=25 March 2021}} On 25 March 2021, Baker resigned as editor of Spaceflight.{{cite tweet |author-link=British Interplanetary Society |user=BIS_spaceflight |number=1375059575347539975 |title=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. |date=25 March 2021 |access-date=25 March 2021}}
Bibliography
- [https://www.astronauticabookclub.com/ The Race for Space] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190116050011/https://www.astronauticabookclub.com/ |date=16 January 2019 }} – The Story of the space race in six volumes written with co-author Anatoly Zak (2018)
- [https://www.ebay.co.uk/Apollo-Missions-Incredible-Story-Race/dp/1788887972/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1546249919&sr=1-1 The Apollo Missions]: The Incredible Story of the Race to the Moon (from 29 June 2019)
- {{cite book |editor1-last=Baker |editor1-first=David |editor1-link=David Baker (author) |title=Jane’s Space Directory 1999–2000 |publisher=Jane's Information Group |location=Surrey |year=1999 |isbn=0-7106-1919-7|pages= |edition=15th |chapter= |url=https://archive.org/details/janesspacedirect0000unse_t8g7}}
- {{cite book |editor1-last=Baker |editor1-first=David |editor1-link=David Baker (author) |title=Jane’s Space Directory 2001–2002 |publisher=Jane's Information Group |location=Surrey |year=2001 |isbn=0-7106-2330-5|pages= |edition=17th |chapter= |url=https://archive.org/details/janesspacedirect0000unse}}
- {{cite book |editor1-last=Baker |editor1-first=David |editor1-link=David Baker (author) |title=Jane’s Space Directory 2002–2003 |publisher=Jane's Information Group |location=Surrey |year=2002 |isbn=0-7106-2448-4|pages= |edition=18th |chapter= |url=https://archive.org/details/janesspacedirect0000unse_p0s6}}
- {{cite book |editor1-last=Baker |editor1-first=David |editor1-link=David Baker (author) |title=Jane’s Space Directory 2004–2005 |publisher=Jane's Information Group |location=Surrey |year=2004 |isbn=0-7106-2638-X|pages= |edition=20th |chapter= |url=https://archive.org/details/janesspacedirect0000unse_i7i2}}
- {{cite book |editor1-last=Baker |editor1-first=David |editor1-link=David Baker (author) |title=Jane’s Space Directory 2005–2006 |publisher=Jane's Information Group |location=Surrey |year=2004 |isbn=0-7106-2706-8|pages= |edition=21st |chapter= |url=https://archive.org/details/janesspacedirect0000bake}}