Marc Garneau, born February 23, 1949 in Quebec City, Quebec, passed away today after a brief illness. He was the first Canadian in space when he launched on Challenger (STS-41-G) in October 1984. He went into space twice more, in May 1996 aboard Endeavour (STS-77), and finally in December 2000 aboard Endeavour (STS-97).
He was appointed executive vice-president of the Canadian Space Agency in 2001, and then he was announced as president in November 2001. He resigned from the CSA in November 2005.
He served as a member of Parliament for Notre-Dame-de-Grace - Westmount from 2008-2023. During that time, he served as Minister of Transport, and Minister of Foreign Affairs under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
James Buchli, born June 20, 1945 in New Rockford, North Dakota, flew into space four times with NASA's Space Shuttle program. He graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1967 and received a commission in the US Marine Corps. He served in the Vietnam War as a Platoon Commander with the 9th Marine Regiment, and then for B Company, 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion. He returned to the US in 1969 and completed his training as a naval flight officer.
Buchli was chosen as an astronaut in 1979. His first flight was aboard Discovery (STS-51-C) as mission specialist in January 1985. The mission was dedicated to the US Department of Defense, and he returned to Earth after just over 3 days in space.
His second mission was aboard Challenger (STS-61-A) as flight engineer in October-November 1985, the last successful mission of the Challenger. He spent seven days in space.
Buchlil's third mission was aboard Discovery (STS-29) as mission specialist in March 1989 to insert a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) into orbit. He spent almost 5 days in space before returning to Earth.
His fourth and final mission was aboard Discovery (STS-48) as mission specialist in September 1991 to deploy the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS). He returned to Earth after more than 5 days in space.
Bruce McCandless II, born June 8, 1937 in Boston, Massachusetts, went into space twice. He graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1958, and received flight training from the Naval Air Training Command in Pensacola, Florida and in Kingsville, Texas.
He was selected as an astronaut in the NASA Astronaut Group 5 at age 28, the youngest member of the group. He served as mission control capsule communicator (CAPCOM) during Apollo 11. He served as CAPCOM for Apollo 14, as well as astronaut support crew. He was reassigned to the Skylab program, serving as CAPCOM for Skylab 3 and Skylab 4.
His first mission was aboard Space Shuttle Challenger (STS-41-B) as mission specialist in February 1984. During the mission he performed the first untethered spacewalk, using the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), traveling 322 ft away from the shuttle. He spent eight days in space.
His second mission was aboard Discovery (STS-31) as mission specialist in April 1990. He was planning to conduct an EVA with fellow astronaut Kathryn Sullivan to fix and array that could not be deployed through ground control, but the problem was fixed without the need of an EVA. He returned to Earth after 5 days in space.
Terry Hart, born October 27, 1946 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, went into space aboard Space Shuttle Challenger (STS-41-C) in April 1984 as mission specialist. During the mission he used the Canadarm to capture a satellite and place it in Challenger's payload bay.
Front Row (L-R): Jon McBride, Sally Ride, Kathryn Sullivan, David Leestma
Back Row (L-R): Paul Scully-Power, Robert Crippen, Marc Garneau
On October 13, 1984, the Challenger (STS-41-G) crew woke up to OU's fight song Boomer Sooner and Rocket Man by Elton John. I haven't figured out the connection between OU and the mission. Rocket Man seems appropriate though.
They prepared for re-entry by closing the payload bay doors and fired the Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) engines over Australia. Due to the shuttle's 57-degree inclination, their re-entry took them over the eastern United States, which was one of many firsts experienced during the mission.
Challenger touched down at 12:25pm at Kennedy Space Center. They spent 8 days, 5 hours and 23 minutes in space, traveling almost 3.3M miles and completing 133 orbits.
It was the first shuttle to:
carry a crew of seven
carry two women into space
involve a woman in an EVA (Sullivan)
carry a Canadian into space (Garneau)
carry an Australian-born person into space (Scully-Power)
carry an astronaut with a beard into space (Scully-Power)
fly over the eastern US during re-entry
The crew consisted of Commander Robert Crippen, pilot Jon McBride, Kathryn Sullivan, Sally Ride, David Leestma, Paul Scully-Power, and Marc Garneau.
Commander Robert Crippen became the first American to complete two space missions in the same calendar year.
Footage of the mission appeared in The Dream is Alive, an IMAX documentary film about NASA's Space Shuttle program.
On Day 7 of Challenger's (STS-41-G) historic flight, the crew wok up to Take Me Home, Country Roads by John Denver. David Leestma and Kathryn Sullivan donned their space suits, with help from Jon McBride, to conduct an EVA. They maneuvered to the ORS, situated at the rear of the cargo bay. Leestma installed a valve assembly into the simulated Landsat propulsion plumbing.
Sullivan secured the Ku antenna as they headed back to the air lock. One of the two motors that steered the Ku antenna failed on the first day, but Mission Control managed to devise a workaround for it so it would point at the TDRS satellite and send the stored data to NASA. The EVA lasted 3 hours and 29 minutes and Sullivan became the first American woman to conduct a spacewalk.
Canadian astronaut Marc Garneau with the Sunphotometer
The second day of flight STS-41-G, the Challenger crew woke up to Irene
Cara’s Flashdance…What a Feeling.
Starting with Apollo 15, NASA started playing music to wake up the flight
crew. Each song is chosen specifically
by the astronauts’ families and typically has a special meaning to their family
member or the crew. Or it can be
applicable to their daily activities. I
haven’t found which astronaut is connected to this song.
The crew lowered the Challenger’s orbit to an altitude of
151 miles, down from 218 miles the day before. Marc Garneau began the Canadian
experiments (CANEX), sponsored by the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada.His experiments included investigations into
medical, atmospheric, climatic, materials, and robotic sciences.One piece of equipment Garneau used was the
Sunphotometer, a handheld instrument which measures solar radiation at several
wavelengths.The Canadian Atmospheric Environment
Service used the readings to measure local atmospheric constituents and to
monitor acidic haze.
Paul Scully-Power (Australian-American astronaut) began
oceanographic observations, and successfully photographed spiral eddies in the
world’s oceans.
David Leestma completed tests on the Orbital Refueling
System remote-controlled hydrazine fuel transfer. The structure was designed to
develop and demonstrate equipment and techniques for refueling satellites in
orbit.
Less than 9 hours after launch, the crew of the space shuttle Challenger (STS-41-G) deployed the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS). Sally Ride, on her second mission, used the Canadarm to remove the satellite from the payload bay. Then the ERBS fired its on-board thrusters and boosted it into orbit. It was the first spacecraft to be launched and deployed by a space shuttle mission.
One of the solar panels on the ERSB did not extend properly so Ride shook the satellite with the Canadarm for the panel to extend fully. Pilot Jon McBride maneuvered the shuttle away from the satellite when it was finally deployed.
The Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE II), an instrument on board the ERSB, measured the decline in ozone over the Antarctic, and the data collected was key in the international community's decisions during the Montreal Protocol Agreement in 1987.
Another instrument was the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) Scanner which studied longwave radiation, shortwave radiation, and total energy radiating from Earth. The third instrument was the ERBE non-scanner, which measured the total energy from the sun. Both were included in the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System mission and NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission.
The instruments were powered off in August 2005 in preparation for decommissioning. During the decommissioning process, fuel was depleted, batteries were discharged, on-board memory was scrubbed, and the solar arrays were disconnected from the battery.
ERSB re-entered Earth's atmosphere on January 8, 2023.
Anna Lee Fisher, born August 24, 1949 in New York City, went into space aboard Discovery (STS-51-A) as mission specialist in November 1984. She is the first mother to go into space and was married to fellow astronaut Bill Fisher. She operated the Canadarm to successfully capture a satellite.
Fisher was scheduled to fly aboard STS-61-C but after the Challenger disaster, the mission was cancelled. She spent almost 8 days in space.
Robert "Hoot" Gibson, born October 30, 1946 in Cooperstown, New York, is a veteran of five space shuttle missions.
His first mission was as pilot on Challenger (STS-41-B) in February 1984. It was the first flight to involve an untethered spacewalk. He spent almost 8 days in space and completed 128 orbits.
His second flight was aboard Columbia (STS-61-C) as commander in January 1986, the last shuttle mission before the Challenger disaster. He spent over 6 days in space and completed 98 orbits.
Gibson's third mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-27) as commander in December 1988. It was a classified payload for the US Department of Defense. He spent over four days in space and completed 68 orbits.
His fourth flight was aboard Endeavour (STS-47) as commander in September 1992. He carried the first Japanese astronaut, Mamoru Mohri, and the first African-American woman, Mae Jemison into space. He spent almost 8 days in space and completed 126 orbits.
His fifth and final mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-71) in June-July 1995 to the Russian space station Mir. It was the first space shuttle docking with Mir. He spent almost 10 days in space and completed 153 orbits.
He married fellow astronaut Rhea Seddon in May 1981. He retired from NASA in November 1996 and became a pilot for Southwest Airlines.
Our heroes seem to be dropping all around us. First Angela Lansbury, then Apollo astronaut James McDivitt, and now, first Dutch-born astronaut Lodewijk van den Berg passed away October 16 at the age of 90. He was born March 24, 1932 in the Netherlands, but was a naturalized American citizen when he went into space and no longer a Dutch citizen.
He went into space aboard Challenger (STS-51-B) in April-May 1985 as a payload specialist. He was responsible for the Vapor Crystal Growth System experiment. After returning to Earth, he continued work on crystal growth, even when he was 72.
An asteroid was named after him and is known as 11430 Lodewijkberg. He passed away in Florida, but no cause of death has been cited.
Gregory Jarvis, born August 24, 1944 in Detroit, Michigan, died during the Space Shuttle Challenger (STS-51-L) disaster on January 28, 1986. He was a payload specialist for Hughes Aircraft and it was his first mission into space. He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor in 2004.
Robert Cenker, born November 5, 1948 in Menallen Township, Pennsylvania, went into space aboard Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-61-C) as payload specialist in January 1986. It was the last flight before the Challenger tragedy later that month.
Ellison Onizuka, born June 24, 1946 in Kealakekua, Hawaii (which was not even part of the US then), is the first Asian-American in space and the first person of Japanese origin to reach space. He went into space twice, first on Discovery (STS-51-C) in January 1985 and then Challenger (STS-51-L) in January 1986. He perished when Challenger blew up shortly after launch.
Onizuka Air Force Station in Sunnyvale, California is dedicated to him. He has an asteroid and a crater on the moon named after him. The airport in Kona, Hawaii has been renamed Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport, and he even has a shuttlecraft, which has appeared in three episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, named after him.
Frederick "Rick" Hauck, born April 11, 1941 in Long Beach, California, is a veteran of three space shuttle flights.
His first flight was aboard Challenger (STS-7) as pilot in June 1983. The mission carried Sally Ride, first American female astronaut, into space.
His second flight was aboard Discovery (STS-51-A) as commander in November 1984. Hauck was the first commander of a space shuttle mission not from the Apollo era.
His third and final flight was aboard Discovery (STS-26) as commander in September-October 1988. It was the Return to Flight mission, being the first flight after the Challenger disaster in January 1986.
Lodewijk van den Berg, born March 24, 1932 in the Netherlands, went into space aboard Challenger (STS-51-B) as payload specialist in April-May 1985. Although he was born in the Netherlands, he had become an American citizen by the time he went into space.
Loren Acton, born March 7, 1936 in Lewistown, Montana, went into space aboard Space Shuttle Challenger (STS-51-F) as payload specialist in July-August 1985. It experienced multiple sensor failures in its engines during launch, and they had to perform an "Abort to Orbit", an emergency procedure, the only crew to have had to do this. Because of this, the mission was carried out at a slightly lower altitude than planned.
Maybe that is why of the seven astronauts on the flight, five of them did not return to space.
Bonnie Dunbar, born March 3, 1949 in Sunnyside, Washington, has flown on five space shuttle missions and been to Mir twice.
Her first flight as aboard Challenger (STS-61-A) as mission specialist in October-November 1985. The mission was funded and directed by West Germany.
Her second flight was aboard Columbia (STS-32) as mission specialist in January 1990.
Her third flight was again aboard Columbia (STS-50) as mission specialist in June-July 1992. Its primary objective was the US Microgravity Laboratory 1.
Her fourth flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-71) as mission specialist to the space station Mir in June-July 1995. It was the first Space Shuttle docking to the Russian space station.
Her fifth and final flight was aboard Endeavour (STS-89) as mission specialist to Mir in January 1998. The mission swapped crew members aboard Mir.
Dale Gardner, born November 8, 1948 in Fairmont, Minnesota, was a veteran of two space shuttle flights.
His first mission was aboard Challenger (STS-8) as mission specialist in August-September 1983. The primary mission was the deployment of an Indian communications and weather observation satellite.
His second trip was aboard Discovery (STS-51-A) as mission specialist in November 1984. He performed two EVAs during the mission with fellow astronaut Joseph Allen, for almost 12 hours.
Gardner passed away in February 2014 after suffering a hemorrhagic stroke.
Steven Nagel, born October 27, 1946 in Columbia, Missouri, went into space four times.
His first flight was aboard Discovery (STS-51-G) as mission specialist in June 1985. It was Shannon Lucid's first flight as well.
His second flight was aboard Challenger (STS-61-A) as pilot in October-November 1985. It was the last successful flight of Challenger and holds the record for the largest crew - eight - aboard any since spacecraft for the entire mission.
His third mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-37) as commander in April 1991. The mission included two EVAs, the first since 1985.
His fourth and final mission was aboard Columbia (STS-55) as commander in April-May 1993. The mission hosted 88 experiments from 11 different nations.
He was married to fellow astronaut Linda Godwin.
Nagel passed away in August 2014 from advanced melanoma.
