Anna Lee Fisher, born August 24, 1949 in New York City, went into space aboard Discovery (STS-51-A) as mission specialist in November 1984. She is the first mother to go into space and was married to fellow astronaut Bill Fisher. She operated the Canadarm to successfully capture a satellite.
Fisher was scheduled to fly aboard STS-61-C but after the Challenger disaster, the mission was cancelled. She spent almost 8 days in space.
David Walker, born May 20, 1944 in Columbus, Georgia, is a veteran of four space shuttle flights.
His first flight was aboard Discovery (STS-51-A) as pilot in November 1984. The flight recovered two satellites.
His second flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-30) as commander in May 1989. The primary objective of the mission was to deploy the Magellan spacecraft to Venus.
His third flight was aboard Discovery (STS-53) as commander in December 1992. It was a mission dedicated to the US Department of Defense.
His fourth and final flight was aboard Endeavour (STS-69) as commander in September 1995. It was the second flight of the Wake Shield Facility.
Frederick "Rick" Hauck, born April 11, 1941 in Long Beach, California, is a veteran of three space shuttle flights.
His first flight was aboard Challenger (STS-7) as pilot in June 1983. The mission carried Sally Ride, first American female astronaut, into space.
His second flight was aboard Discovery (STS-51-A) as commander in November 1984. Hauck was the first commander of a space shuttle mission not from the Apollo era.
His third and final flight was aboard Discovery (STS-26) as commander in September-October 1988. It was the Return to Flight mission, being the first flight after the Challenger disaster in January 1986.
Dale Gardner, born November 8, 1948 in Fairmont, Minnesota, was a veteran of two space shuttle flights.
His first mission was aboard Challenger (STS-8) as mission specialist in August-September 1983. The primary mission was the deployment of an Indian communications and weather observation satellite.
His second trip was aboard Discovery (STS-51-A) as mission specialist in November 1984. He performed two EVAs during the mission with fellow astronaut Joseph Allen, for almost 12 hours.
Gardner passed away in February 2014 after suffering a hemorrhagic stroke.
Joseph P. Allen, born June 27, 1937 in Crawfordsville, Indiana, is a veteran of two Space Shuttle missions. After obtaining his PhD in Physics from Yale, he was selected as an astronaut by NASA in August 1967 and completed flight training Vance Air Force Base in Oklahoma(!).
His first flight was as mission specialist on Columbia (STS-5) in November 1982. He was scheduled to perform a spacewalk with fellow astronaut William Lenoir, but was cancelled when Lenoir got sick.
His second and final mission was on Discovery (STS-51-A) in November 1984 also as mission specialist. He completed two EVAs with fellow astronaut Dale Gardner, logging almost 11 hours in space.
L-R: Dale Gardner, David Walker, Anna Fisher, Fred Hauck, Joseph Allen
(That's not a real bald eagle.)
Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-51-A) took off from Kennedy Space Center November 8, 1984 and landed back there 8 days later. It was her second flight. During the mission, the crew of Discovery deployed two satellites and retrieved two other satellites that were malfunctioning. Her crew consisted of Commander Fred Hauck, Pilot David Walker, Mission Specialist Joseph Allen, Mission Specialist Anna Fisher and Mission Specialist Dale Gardner.
Gardner and Allen performed the EVAs to capture the satellites.
Anna Fisher was the first mother in space. She had a one year-old daughter at the time of the mission.
The mission began on Dale Gardner's 36th birthday. He was born November 8, 1948 in Fairmount, Minnesota and passed away February 19th 2014. David Walker has also passed away.
Space Shuttle Discovery blasted off November 8, 1984 on its second voyage, the fourteenth shuttle mission for NASA. It deployed two satellites and retrieved two others, which were malfunctioning. The Palapa B2 and Westar 6 communication satellites had been deployed by the Space Shuttle Columbia in February 1984. Mission Specialists Joseph Allen and Dale Gardner performed tetherless EVA's to retrieve the satellites.
