I’ve always disliked the tendency to describe this otherwise amusing anecdote as a ‘strike’ or ‘mutiny.’ By definition, the captain of a ship—-or commander of

I’ve always disliked the tendency to describe this otherwise amusing anecdote as a ‘strike’ or ‘mutiny.’ By definition, the captain of a ship—-or commander of a mission—-can’t ‘mutiny.’ They may be held responsible for their actions, court martialed, grounded, etc. but decisions made by the commander during the mission, whatever they are^1, are legitimate. That the mission commander aboard the ship would function as a military commander was established very early in NASA’s history—-going back to Mercury, where the commander was also the crew. Carr decided or agreed that his crew needed a break, and he had been very carefully selected to be the person who had the authority to make that decision. (^1 There is a modern exception to this rule in the case of illegal orders and war crimes, but that somewhat fraught question doesn’t apply here.)