The Challenger mission was to be his second space flight. In his career, Onizuka logged 1700 hours of flying time and 74 hours in space. Selected as an astronaut candidate in 1978, Onizuka flew on Discovery-the first Department of Defense shuttle mission-in 1985, becoming the first Asian American astronaut to fly in space. Onizuka immediately joined the Air Force and became an aerospace flight test engineer and then a test pilot. He earned a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering in June 1969 from the University of Colorado, and then a master’s degree in December that year. NASA, Wikimedia Commons // Public DomainĬolonel Ellison Shoji Onizuka grew up in Kealakekua, Kona, Hawaii. Ronald McNair // Mission SpecialistĮllison Onizuka. Smith was survived by his wife and three children. Smith was assigned as pilot for two shuttle missions in 1986, the first scheduled for January aboard the Challenger. Smith logged 4867 hours of flight time in 28 types of aircraft before becoming part of NASA’s astronaut program in 1980. There, Smith earned numerous medals and citations for two years of combat duty. Smith became a pilot in 1969 and served as a flight instructor until he was sent to Vietnam. Naval Academy in 1967 and achieved a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering in 1968. (Once, when he was the quarterback of a junior varsity football team, he called a timeout just so he could watch a military airplane pass overhead.) He graduated from the U.S. NASA Human Space Flight Gallery, Wikimedia Commons // Public DomainĬaptain Michael John Smith grew up near an airstrip in Morehead, North Carolina, and never wanted to do anything but fly. Scobee, is now Chief of Air Force Reserve in Arlington, Virginia, and Commander of the Air Force Reserve Command at Georgia's Robins Air Force Base. He was survived by his wife and two children. Scobee achieved the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. An aunt remembered, ''He said he had acquired everything he wanted in life.’’ Scobee told his family that his second shuttle mission might be his last. Scobee piloted the shuttle Challenger into space on its fifth mission in April 1984 his next assignment was as commander of the Challenger mission in January 1986. After joining NASA’s astronaut program in 1978, he not only flew the space shuttle, but also instructed pilots on flying the Boeing 747 that carried shuttles to Florida. Scobee then became a test pilot and logged 6500 hours flying 45 different types of aircraft. He became a pilot the next year and served in Vietnam as a combat aviator. He served as an engine mechanic and took college classes in his spare time, earning a degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Arizona in 1965, as well as an officer’s commission. Air Force after graduating from high school in 1957. Francis Richard Scobee enlisted in the U.S. NASA Human Space Flight Gallery, Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain
0 kommentar(er)
