STS-51-G launched 1985

STS-51-G crew:

Front Row (L-R): Daniel Bradenstein, John Creighton

Back Row (L-R): Shannon Lucid, Steven Nagel, John Fabian, Saiman Al Saud, Patrick Baudry

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-51-G), launched June 17, 1985, carried Sultan Saiman Al Saud of Saudi Arabia into orbit.  He is the first Arab, first Muslim and the first member of a royal family to travel into space.

The entire crew consisted of Commander Daniel Brandenstein, Pilot John Creighton, John Fabian, Steven Nagel, Shannon Lucid, Patrick Baudry, and Saud (Royal Saudi Air Force).  During the mission, the Arabsat-1B (Arab Satellite Communications Organization) was deployed.

They returned to Earth June 24.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Daniel Brandenstein!

Daniel Brandenstein, born January 17, 1943 in Watertown, Wisconsin, is a veteran of four space shuttle flights.  After college, he went in the US Navy and became a naval aviator.

His first flight was on Challenger (STS-8) as pilot in August-September 1983.  One of the mission's objective was to test the use of the Canadarm remote manipulator system to do some testing on the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, which had been launched previously.

He served as commander on his second flight, Discovery (STS-51-G) in June 1985.  It was also the first flight for Shannon Lucid and Sultan Salman Al Saud of the Royal Saudi Air Force.

His third flight was aboard Columbia (STS-32) as commander in January 1990.  This mission deployed and captured satellites during its time in space.

Brandenstein's fourth and last flight was aboard Endeavour (STS-49) as commander in May 1992.  It took three astronauts in EVA to retrieve a communications satellite.