Steve Austin is a fictional character created by Martin Caidin for his 1972 novel, Cyborg, who later became a 1970s television icon as portrayed by Lee Majors in the 1974-1978 series The Six Million Dollar Man. There are multiple Steve Austins: Steve Austin (fictional character) - from The Six Million Dollar Man Stone Cold Steve Austin - the professional wrestler see also Stephen F. Austin, founder of Republic of Texas This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the... Martin Caidin (1927-1997) was an American author and an authority on aeronautics and aviation. ... Lee Majors (born Harvey Lee Yeary on April 23, 1939) is an American actor, primarily known for his roles in movies, sitcoms and television who also starred in four long-running ABC TV series over four decades. ... The Six Million Dollar Man is an American television series about a cyborg working for the OSI (which was usually said to refer to the Office of Scientific Intelligence, but sometimes was called the Office of Scientific Investigation). ... This article is about modern humans. ... For other uses, see Cyborg (disambiguation). ... Spy and Secret agent redirect here. ... Please see Colonel for other countries which use this rank Insignia of a United States Colonel Colonel is a rank of the United States armed forces. ... Jaime Sommers, sometimes spelled Jamie Sommers, is a fictional character portrayed by Lindsay Wagner in The Bionic Woman and The Six Million Dollar Man. ... Martin Caidin (1927-1997) was an American author and an authority on aeronautics and aviation. ... Cyborg is the title of a science fiction/secret agent novel by Martin Caidin which was first published in 1972. ... Lee Majors (born Harvey Lee Yeary on April 23, 1939) is an American actor, primarily known for his roles in movies, sitcoms and television who also starred in four long-running ABC TV series over four decades. ... The Six Million Dollar Man is an American television series about a cyborg working for the OSI (which was usually said to refer to the Office of Scientific Intelligence, but sometimes was called the Office of Scientific Investigation). ...

Background

As originally conceived by Caidin, Austin is a former US Army helicopter pilot who served in Vietnam before being transferred to the Air Force and then into NASA. As backup Lunar Module Pilot for Apollo 17, he became one of twelve astronauts to walk on the moon when the prime Lunar Module Pilot (LMP) broke an arm before launch.^[1] The United States Army is the largest and oldest branch of the armed forces of the United States. ... For other uses, see Helicopter (disambiguation). ... “The U.S. Air Force” redirects here. ... This article is about the American space agency. ... Description Role: Lunar landing Crew: 2; CDR, LM pilot Dimensions Height: 20. ... Apollo 17 was the eleventh manned space mission in the NASA Apollo program. ... This list contains all spacewalks and moonwalks; that is, every occasion where an astronaut has fully or partially left his spacecraft. ... Astronaut Bruce McCandless on an untethered EVA Extra-vehicular activity (EVA) is work done by an astronaut away from the Earth and outside of his or her spacecraft. ...

In the pilot episode of The Six Million Dollar Man, Austin's background is adjusted: he is a civilian test pilot who was the only civilian to walk on the Moon. In the regular series, however, Austin once again became a military man, holding the rank of colonel in the Air Force. A television pilot is a test episode of an intended television series. ... Please see Colonel for other countries which use this rank Insignia of a United States Colonel Colonel is a rank of the United States armed forces. ...

In both versions of his origin, Austin is testing an experimental lifting body aircraft (the series identifies it as an M2-F2) when a malfunction causes a crash. Austin's injuries are severe: both legs and one arm are lost, and he is also blinded in one eye and his skull is pulverized (the TV version does not suffer the skull injury). One of Austin's best friends is Dr. Rudy Wells, a doctor and scientist who is a specialist in the newly emerging field of bionics; unknown to Wells, a secret American government intelligence agency, the Office of Strategic Operations (OSO; later changed to Office of Scientific Intelligence or OSI for TV) has been looking at a way of reducing agent casualties. Their solution is to take a severely injured man, rebuild him with bionics, and create a cyborg -- part man, part machine. Wells is ordered to perform the procedure on Austin, who expresses a desire to commit suicide after learning about the loss of his limbs. The lifting body is an aircraft configuration where the body itself produces lift. ... NASA M2-F2 Lifting Body The Northrop M2-F2 was a heavyweight lifting body based on studies at NASAs Ames and Langley research centers. ... Bionics (also known as biomimetics, biognosis, biomimicry, or bionical creativity engineering) is the application of methods and systems found in nature to the study and design of engineering systems and modern technology. ... For other uses, see Cyborg (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Suicide (disambiguation). ...

The operation to rebuild him costs $6 million. Bionics are used to replace Austin's arm (his left in Caidin's original story; his right in the TV version) and both legs. Austin's eye is also replaced. Caidin and the TV series treat this differently; Caidin's Austin receives a sophisticated miniature camera (activated by pressing a hidden shutter implanted under Austin's skin after which the eye has to be removed before development of the film) but otherwise remains blinded in that eye, while the television version not only restores sight but also has extreme telescopic magnification and infrared capabilities. His legs and arm provide Austin with superhuman speed, strength and endurance (the latter because, Caidin writes, Austin's heart and lungs only need to power his torso, head and remaining arm). Caidin's character also had some additional bionic parts his TV counterpart lacked, such as a steel-reinforced skull, a poison dart gun built into one of his bionic fingers, and a radio transmitter built into a rib.

Both versions of the character are subsequently recruited into the OSO/OSI as a secret agent (and as an ongoing test subject for bionics). Austin becomes a top agent, travelling the world to fight everything from terrorism (the most common target of the literary version of the character) to alien invasion (in the TV version). Secret Agent is a 1936 British film directed by Alfred Hitchcock based on a novel by W. Somerset Maugham. ...

Austin's personality was altered in the TV series. In the books, Austin was capable of being cold-blooded and did not hesitate to use his powers to kill if necessary. Yet in the TV pilot, Austin is initially hesitant to work for the OSI because, he says, "I don't want to kill people", although he appears to do just that in the subsequent mission. After the show's first season, however, Austin was usually not shown killing anyone.

In Caidin's novels, Austin's superior is OSO chief Oscar Goldman. Goldman was replaced by another character, Oliver Spencer, in the TV pilot film, but appeared in the regular series. The relationship between the TV version of Austin and Oscar was much friendlier than the literary counterpart, although numerous episodes show Austin being frustrated at being a "bionic lap dog" for the OSI. Richard Anderson as Oscar Goldman in The Six Million Dollar Man Oscar Goldman is the name of a fictional character portrayed by Richard Anderson in both The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman television series. ...

Austin's backstory is barely described by Caidin. The TV series, however, introduced his mother and stepfather (who live in Ojai, California), and eventually, a fiancée, Jaime Sommers, who would herself become bionic after a skydiving accident, leading to a spin-off series, The Bionic Woman. Lee Majors made frequent guest appearances on the spin-off series, which springboarded from Jaime being brought back to life after her bionics failed; a consequence of this was she lost all memory of her relationship to Austin. Both The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman went off the air in 1978. Downtown Ojai Ojai (pronounced ) is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Largest metro area Greater Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... Jaime Sommers, sometimes spelled Jamie Sommers, is a fictional character portrayed by Lindsay Wagner in The Bionic Woman and The Six Million Dollar Man. ... Skydiver about to land Parachuting, or skydiving, is a recreational activity, competitive sport and method of deployment of military personnel (and occasionally, firefighters). ... The Bionic Woman was a television series which spun off from The Six Million Dollar Man. ...

Further details about Austin's later life were filled in during three made-for-TV reunion movies that aired between 1987 and 1994. In the first (The Return of the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman), which takes place several years after Austin retires from the OSI, it is revealed that he had a son, Michael, born in the mid-1960s. His mother is not identified. Michael subsequently suffers traumatic injuries in a crash similar to which his father experienced, and undergoes bionic rebuilding which renders him more powerful than his bionic father. In exchange for Michael's operation, Austin agrees to return to OSI and his son also becomes an operative, though he would not appear in any subsequent films. In the second film, Bionic Showdown, Austin is shown to be a senior OSI operative helping thwart a terrorist attack against an athletic event in Canada. Bionic Ever After?, the final reunion film, saw Austin's bionics malfunctioning due to a computer virus, but in the end he is rescued by Jaime and the two finally marry as the film ends. Unlike Jaime, who undergoes an upgrade to her bionics in Bionic Ever After? which apparently adds new abilities, no such upgrade was ever evidenced for Austin in the telefilms, with the exception of an apparent enhancement to his bionic eye which is illustrated in Bionic Ever After?.

Caidin's version of Austin appeared in only four original novels unrelated to the television series continuity: Cyborg, Operation Nuke, High Crystal and Cyborg IV. Cyborg is the title of a science fiction/secret agent novel by Martin Caidin which was first published in 1972. ... Operation Nuke is the title of the second book in the Cyborg series of science fiction/secret agent novels by Martin Caidin which was first published in 1973, just prior to Cyborg being adapted as the television series The Six Million Dollar Man. ... High Crystal is a science fiction/secret agent novel by Martin Caidin that was first published in 1974. ... Cyborg IV is a science fiction/secret agent novel by Martin Caidin that was first published in 1975. ...

In May 2007, NBC announced that it would air a new Bionic Woman series, with no connection to The Six Million Dollar Man or Steve Austin. Pre-broadcast publicity photographs from the new series reveal that the new version of the Jaime Sommers character has a bionic eye similar to that of Austin's in addition to the bionic parts of the original character.[2] It remains to be seen whether Steve Austin will appear in the new series (numerous media reports have circulated since the mid-1990s regarding a possible threatrical remake of The Six Million Dollar Man but as of 2007 no such production has occurred.) This article is about the television network. ... This article is about the 2007 TV series. ...

Notes

1. ^  In real life, Harrison Schmitt, the prime LMP, did not need to be replaced by the backup LMP, Charles Duke, who had already walked on the Moon as part of the Apollo 16 crew.

Dr. Harrison Hagan Jack Schmitt (born July 3, 1935) is a geologist, astronaut and former U.S. senator. ... Charles Moss Duke, Jr. ... Apollo 16 was the tenth manned mission in the Apollo program and the fifth mission to land on the Moon. ...

External Links

• The Bionic Wiki