Discovery (STS-51-D) launched 1985

STS-51-D crew

Front row (L-R): Karol Bobko, Donald Williams, Rhea Seddon, Jeffrey Hoffman

Last row (L-R): David Griggs, Charles Walker, Edwin Garn

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-51-D), launched April 12, 1985, was the fourth flight of Discovery.  Its crew consisted of Commander Karol Bobko, Pilot Donald Williams, Rhea Seddon, David Griggs, Jeffrey Hoffman, Charles Walker, and Senator Edwin Garn of Utah.

Hoffman and Griggs conducted an EVA on April 16 for just over 3 hours.  Griggs also performed tricks with a yo-yo to see how "Toys in Space" reacted to microgravity.  He successfully comppleted the flying saucer and around-the-moon, but the sleeper trick did not work without normal gravity.

The crew returned to Earth April 19 and a tire blew out upon landing, causing extensive damage to the brakes.

Donald Williams, Space Shuttle astronaut, born 1942

Donald Williams, born February 13, 1942, was a veteran of two space shuttle flights.  He earned his Bachelor's of Science in Mechanical Engineering and received a commission through the Naval ROTC both from Purdue University.

His first flight was on Discovery (STS-51-D) as pilot in April 1985.  During the mission, he became the first person to juggle in microgravity!

His second and final flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-34) as commander in October 1989. The Galileo spacecraft to Jupiter was deployed during this mission.

Williams passed away in February 2016.

Galileo probe, launched from Atlantis, 1989

The Galileo probe to Jupiter wa launched from the Space Shuttle Atlantis, October 18, 1989, a mere 6 hours after take-off.  The STS-34 mission crew consisted of Commander Donald Williams, Pilot Michael McCulley, Shannon Lucid(!), Franklin Chang-Diaz (remember him?) and Ellen Baker.

Galileo became the first spacecraft to orbit and fly into the atmosphere of an outer planet.

Ellen Baker, a medical doctor, studied the effectiveness of anti-motion sickness medication in space.  I'm sure some of those early cosmonauts wished they had some of that.

The wake-up calls included Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, Centerfield by John Fogerty, Fly Like an Eagle by the Steve Miller Band and the OU Fight Song (Shannon!).

The original date of the launch was scheduled for October 12, which was the first day of the optimum window to launch a spacecraft directly to Jupiter, but they had to replace a faulty main engine controller on Engine No. 2.  The date was re-set to October 17, but the crew wanted to get Billy Joel's new album Storm Front, which was released that day, so they took off on October 18.

(Not really)