In the first Planet of the Apes movie, Taylor exhibits all kinds of traits that aren't exactly the best for an astronaut. Super emotional, impulsive, egotistical, bossy, on his high horse, arrogant as hell, reactive, goes 100mph on the first thing that comes to his mind rather than calmly assessing a situation/problem. He would be the last guy I would pick as an astronaut.
I do like his choice amongst the native humans, though, Nova is sexy as hell.