George William Samuel Abbey (August 21, 1932 – March 24, 2024) was an American NASA administrator and United States Air Force pilot.

[1][2][3] Although his father was an agnostic, Abbey was raised in his mother's Presbyterian faith and frequently attended Lutheran church services during his high school years to be with his Scandinavian friends.

[5] At the behest of his brother Vince, George applied for United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and barely passed the entrance examination.

In December 1967 he left the Air Force and was named technical assistant to the Johnson Space Center director.

[8] As director of flight operations, he put America's first woman in space when he assigned Sally Ride to the crew of 1983's STS-7.

In July 1990, he was selected as deputy for operations and senior NASA representative to the Synthesis Group, charged with defining strategies for returning to the Moon and landing on Mars.

A small team of administrators and scientists including Abbey, John Young, Thomas P. Stafford and Max Faget were called to devise a cheaper alternative to Freedom.