Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut John Creighton!

John Creighton, born April 28, 1943 in Orange, Texas, is a veteran of three space shuttle flights.

His first mission was aboard Discovery (STS-51-G) as pilot in June 1985.  The mission objective was to release three communication satellites, from Mexico, the Arab Satellite Communications Organization and AT&T.

His second flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-36) as commander in February 1990.  The mission carried a classified payload for the US Department of Defense.

His third and final flight was aboard Discovery (STS-48) as commander in September 1991.  Its primary mission was to deploy the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite.

In total, Creighton spent over 16 days, 20 hours in space.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut David Hilmers!

David Hilmers, born January 28, 1950 in Clinton, Iowa, is a veteran of four space flights.  He has a Doctor of Medicine degree from the Baylor College of Medicine.

Hilmers' first flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-51-J) as mission specialist in October 1985.  This was a Dept of Defense payload so everything was hush-hush.

His second flight was aboard Discovery (STS-26) as mission specialist in September-October 1988.  This was the "Return to Flight" mission, the first mission after the Challenger disaster in January 1986.

His third flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-36) as mission specialist in February-March 1990 on another Department of Defense mission.

His fourth and final flight was aboard Discovery (STS-42) as mission specialist in January 1992.  The crew carried the International Microgravity Laboaratory-1 into orbit.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Mike Mullane!

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.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut John Casper!

John Casper, born July 9, 1943 in Greenville, South Carolina, is a veteran of 4 space shuttle flights.  After getting a Maser of Science degree in Astronautics from Purdue University in 1967, he attended U.S. Air Force to become a fighter pilot. He flew 229 combat missions in the Vietnam War. 

He served as pilot on his first space flight on Atlantis (STS-36) February-March 1990.  It was a Department of Defense flight so its payload was confidential.

His second flight was as commander on Endeavour (STS-54) January 1993, during which the fifth Tracking and Data Relay Satellite was deployed.

Casper was assigned as commander aboard Columbia (STS-62) in March 1994.  The landing of the mission was chronicled by the Discovery Channel for a special featuring the Space Shuttle program.

His fourth and final mission was as commander aboard Endeavour (STS-77) in May 1996.  A Coca-Cola fountain dispense with Coca-Cola and Diet Coke was taken aboard. 

Atlantis (STS-36) launched 1990

 

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.

Atlantis returned to Earth March 4.