Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Loren Shriver!

Loren Shriver, born September 23, 1944 in Jefferson, Iowa, is a veteran of three space shuttle flights.  From 1969 to 1973 he was an academic pilot instructor at Vance Air Force Base over here in Enid, Oklahoma.

His first mission into space was aboard Discovery (STS-51-C) as pilot in January 1985.  It was the first space shuttle flight to carry a classified payload for the Dept. of Defense.

His second flight was aboard Discovery (STS-31) as commander in April 1990.  This mission deployed the Hubble Space Telescope.

Shriver's third and final flight was on Atlantis (STS-46) as commander in July-August 1992.  The mission deployed the Italian Space Agency's Tethered Satellite Relay System and the European Space Agency's European Retrievable Carrier (EURECA).

Shriver is also a retired US Air Force Colonel.

Discovery (STS-31) launched 1990

STS-31 crew (L-R): Charles Bolden, Steven Hawley, Loren Shriver, Bruce McCandless, Kathryn Sullivan

Discovery (STS-31), launched April 24, 1990, carried the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit.  Its crew consisted of Commander Loren Shriver, Pilot Charles Bolden, Mission Specialist 1 Bruce McCandless, Mission Specialist 2 Steven Hawley and Mission Specialist 3 Kathryn Sullivan.

During the deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope, one of the solar arrays on the observatory failed to unfurl completely.  While ground control tried to get the solar array to finish unfurling, McCandless and Sullivan prepared for a spacewalk, but ground control managed to complete the task before it became necessary to leave the shuttle.

They returned to Earth April 29.

Discovery (STS-51-C) launched 1985

Back row: L-R: Gary Payton, James Buchli, Ellison Onizuka

Front row L-R: Loren Shriver, Thomas Mattingly

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-51-C), launched January 24, 1985, was the third flight of Discovery and the first mission dedicated to the U.S. Department of Defense.  Many details about the mission are still classified.

Her crew consisted of Commander Thomas Mattingly II, Pilot Loren Shriver, Mission Specialist Ellison Onizuka, Mission Specialist James Buchli and Payload Specialist Gary Payton. 

During liftoff, there was a clear indication that the O-rings on both Solid Rocket Boosters were not sufficiently sealing hot gases inside the combustion chambers.  Post-flight analyses showed significant penetration of the primary O-ring and "heavy charring" on the secondary O-ring.   Almost a year to the day later, Challenger exploded during liftoff, killing all hands on board, including Ellison Onizuka who was on both missions.

The results of the O-ring studies contributed to the consensus that it was low air temperature (53 °F) at launch that brought Challenger down.

Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-46) launched 1992

Claude Nicolllier, Franklin  Chang-Diaz, Ranco Malerba

Space Shuttle Atlantis took off Juy 31, 1992, mission STS-46, carrying Claude Nicollier, the first Swiss astronaut, Franklin Ramon Chang-Diza, the first Costa Rican astronaut and Franco Malerba, the first Italian astronaut.

Commander Loren J. Shriver, Pilot Andrew M. Allen, Mission Specialist 2 Marsha S. Ivins and Mission Specialist 3 Jeffrey A.  Hoffman completed the crew.

The mission marked the 150th human spaceflight to reach orbit.