STS-39 crew (L-R): Charles Veach, Michael Coats, Gregory Harbaugh, Donald McMonagle, Blaine Hammond, Richard Hieb, Guion Bluford
Mission patch
Space Shuttle Discovery, launched April 28, 1991, carried experiments for the Department of Defense into space. Its crew consisted of Commander Michael Coats, Pilot Blaine Hammond, Gregory Harbaugh, Donald McMonagle, Guion Bluford, Charles Veach, and Richard Hieb.
Front row (L-R): Richard Mullane, Steven Hawley, Henry Harsfield, Michael Coats
Back row (L-R): Charles Walker, Judith Resnik
Mission patch
Space Shuttle Discovery's maiden voyage (STS-41-D) was launched August 30, 1984. Its crew consisted of Commander Henry Harsfield, Pilot Michael Coats, Richard Mullane, Steven Hawley, Judith Resnik, and Charles Walker.
Resnik was the second US woman in space after Sally Ride.
Michael Coats, born January 16, 1946 in Sacramento, California, is a veteran of three space shuttle flights.
His first mission was aboard Discovery (STS-41-B) as pilot in August-September 1984. The mission involved deploying three commercial communications satellites.
His second flight was again aboard Discovery (STS-29) as commander in March 1989. The primary mission was the third and final component of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS).
His third and final flight was aboard, of course, Discovery (STS-38) as commander in April-May 1991. This payload was for the Department of Defense, so not much info about this flight.
Back row, L-R: James Bagian, Robert Springer, James Buchli.
Front row, L-R: John Blaha, Michael Coats
Mission patch
Discovery (STS-29), launched March 13, 1989, was the twenty-eighth overall space shuttle mission, since the previous mission (STS-28) was delayed until August of that year. Its crew consisted of Commander Michael Coats, Pilot John Blaha, mission specialists Robert Springer, James Buchli and James Bagian.
What? They couldn't find a commander and another mission specialist with the initials "J. B."?
The mission included two Shuttle Student Involvement Program experiments. One used four live rats with tiny pieces of bone removed from them to see how environmental effects of space flight affected bone healing. The second involved 32 chicken eggs to see how space flight affected fertilized chicken embryos.
