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.
Richard "Mike" Mullane, born September 10, 1945 in Wichita Falls, Texas, is a veteran of three space shuttle flights and has spent over 2 weeks in space. As a colonel in the Air Force, he flew combat missions in the Vietnam War in 1969. He was chosen by NASA to become an astronaut in 1978.
His first mission was aboard Discovery (STS-41-D) as mission specialist in August-September 1984. During this flight, three commercial communications satellites were deployed.
His second flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-27) as mission specialist in December 1988. During lift-off, the heat shield was damaged and impacted the right wing. They managed to complete the mission successfully and land on December 6 without incident. However, this same scenario proved fatal for the crew of Columbia 15 years later.
Mullane's third and final flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-36) as mission specialist February-March 1990. It carried a classified payload for the Department of Defense, like his previous mission.
After retiring from NASA, he wrote a book, Riding Rockets: The Outrageous Tales of a Space Shuttle Astronaut, which describes his experiences as a space shuttle astronaut.
Left to right: Pierre Thuot, John Casper, John Creighton, Richard Mullane, David Hilmers
Mission patch
Space Shuttle Atlantis, launched February 28, 1990, was the sixth flight for Atlantis and carried a classified payload for the U.S. Department of Defense. Its crew consisted of Commander John Creighton, Pilot John Casper, mission specialists Pierre Thuot, David Hilmers and Richard Mullane.
It has been theorized that the crew deployed a reconnaissance satellite "Misty" for the DoD, but that is still classified.
Back row, L-R: William Shepherd, Richard Mullane. Front row, L-R: Guy Gardner, Robert Gibson, Jerry Ross.
Mission Patch
Atlantis (STS-27), the second Space Shuttle flight after the Challenger disaster, launched December 2, 1988. It was a mission for the Department of Defense, so its payload and purpose were classified. Her crew consisted of Commander Robert Gibson, Pilot Guy Gardner (not the Green Lantern), Mission Specialist 1 Richard Mullane, Mission Specialist 2 Jerry Ross and Mission Specialist 3 William Shepherd.
During the ascent the Thermal Protection System tiles were damaged by ablative insulating material from the right SRB. The crew reported they saw white material on the windshield at various times during ascent. They tried to examine the starboard side of Atlantis with the Canadarm but could not determine the full extent of the damage. Due to the sensitive nature of the mission, the crew could not send hi-res photos to the ground to assess the damage. The poor resolution pics weren't enough to tell what had happened, either. NASA told the crew that the damage didn't look any worse than previous shuttle incidents. Small comfort for the crew.
It has been reported that Commander Gibson thought the crew would perish upon re-entry, but miraculously, Atlantis landed safely December 6, despite being one of the most damaged shuttles to return.
