Gale Olson is as beautiful as she is intelligent and she will soon bring both of her qualities to an area only a select few have ever explored. “Last year I decided to become an astronaut,” admits the all-natural beauty from Fort Sill, Oklahoma. “So I called the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in Houston to find out qualification requirements.” The petite brunette explains she was extremely focused during this important phone call with NASA that she took four pages worth of notes to make she had taken down everything she needed to know before making the move from Orange Coast Junior College in Costa Mesa to the University of Colorado. “So far, things are turning out fine for me,” says Gale. “NASA prefers prospective female astronauts to have a strong background in mathematics, my strongest subject.” Before Gale decided on becoming an astronaut, her list of potential careers was long and extensive, but traveling through space was always in the back of her mind. “Modeling was one, airline stewardess, college and maybe becoming an astronaut!” giggles our Playmate of the Month who also has considered a career in politics. “I think more people ought to join political groups. Democracies work well only when the majority of citizens get involved in the political process. If they don’t, a few people begin to accumulate the power that really belongs to everyone.” Between all of her studying, and calls to NASA, Gale wanted to accomplish something she had desperately been wanting to try before going into space—even if it went against her politics. “I’m a conservative, but I think every girl who has the figure for it wishes she could be a Playmate, and I'm no exception,” admits our busty Miss August 1968. “All I can say is that I was lucky!” With her large family supportive of her decision, Gale says she was terrified to tell them at first, especially her military father Major Theodore Olson (Ret.). “I have five brothers and three sisters. My mom is from New Zealand and my father has fought in three wars. He’s received the bronze star, oak leaf cluster and Purple Heart from World War II, among others,” says the petite brunette who’s lived in Germany, New Zealand, Alabama, Kentucky, Maryland and Massachusetts as a child. “My dad was an Army career officer and every time we were just getting used to a new place, it was time to move again.” Having such a big family as a child meant she always had someone to play with and she wants to give her future children that same experience, but for now, she’s focusing on herself. “It’s the one great advantage of having my own apartment—I don’t have to hear the patter of a horde of not-so-little feet starting at 7am,” laughs our Miss August 1968. “If I had more time, I’d study and travel. There is so much to learn and see that I’m afraid I could never get enough of either. I’ll probably spend my life traveling and trying to get satisfactory answers to my questions about God, life and myself.” The only question we had for Gale Olson was would she support a second-generation of Playmates in her own family. She answered that question beautifully when she encouraged her daughter Crystal McCahill to pose for Playboy and eventually becoming our Miss May 2009.