Discovery (STS-51-D) launched 1985

STS-51-D crew

Front row (L-R): Karol Bobko, Donald Williams, Rhea Seddon, Jeffrey Hoffman

Last row (L-R): David Griggs, Charles Walker, Edwin Garn

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-51-D), launched April 12, 1985, was the fourth flight of Discovery.  Its crew consisted of Commander Karol Bobko, Pilot Donald Williams, Rhea Seddon, David Griggs, Jeffrey Hoffman, Charles Walker, and Senator Edwin Garn of Utah.

Hoffman and Griggs conducted an EVA on April 16 for just over 3 hours.  Griggs also performed tricks with a yo-yo to see how "Toys in Space" reacted to microgravity.  He successfully comppleted the flying saucer and around-the-moon, but the sleeper trick did not work without normal gravity.

The crew returned to Earth April 19 and a tire blew out upon landing, causing extensive damage to the brakes.

Space Shuttle astronaut David Griggs born 1939

David Griggs, born September 7, 1939 in Portland, Oregon, went into space aboard Discovery (STS-51-D) as mission specialist in April 1985.  He and fellow astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman conducted an unscheduled EVA (the first in NASA history).

Griggs passed away in June 1989 when the vintage World War II-era training aircraft he was piloting crashed near Earle, Arkansas.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Charles Walker!

Charles Walker, born August 29, 1948 in Bedford, Indiana, is a veteran of three space shuttle flights.

His first flight was aboard Discovery (STS-41-D) as payload specialist in August-September 1984.  He was an employee of McDonnell Douglas and was the first commercially sponsored payload specialist.

His second flight was back aboard Discovery (STS-51-D) as payload specialist in April 1985. He spent almost 7 days in space.

Walker's third and final flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-61-B) as payload specialist in November-December 1985.  A checkered flag was carried on board and is now on display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum.

Donald Williams, Space Shuttle astronaut, born 1942

Donald Williams, born February 13, 1942, was a veteran of two space shuttle flights.  He earned his Bachelor's of Science in Mechanical Engineering and received a commission through the Naval ROTC both from Purdue University.

His first flight was on Discovery (STS-51-D) as pilot in April 1985.  During the mission, he became the first person to juggle in microgravity!

His second and final flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-34) as commander in October 1989. The Galileo spacecraft to Jupiter was deployed during this mission.

Williams passed away in February 2016.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Rhea Seddon!

Margaret Rhea Seddon, born November 8, 1947 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, is one of the first group of astronauts to include women and is a veteran of three space shuttle flights.  She has a doctorate of medicine from the University of Tennessee and has served in hospitals in Mississippi and Tennessee. 

Selected as an astronaut in 1978, her first mission was aboard Discovery (STS-51-D) in April 1985 as mission specialist.  She logged 168 hours in space.

Her second mission was aboard Columbia (STS-40) in June 1991 as mission specialist. This flight was dedicated to life sciences with experiments involving cardiovascular/cardiopulmonary, renal/endocrine, blood, musculoskeletal, neurovestibular and immune systems.

Her third and final mission was aboard Columbia (STS-58) in October-November 1993 as Payload Commander on another life science research mission, continuing many of the experiments began on STS-40.

She is married to former astronaut Robert Gibson.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Karol J. Bobko!

Karol Joseph "Bo" Bobko, born December 23, 1937 in New York City, is a veteran of three Space Shuttle flights. He graduated from the US Air Force Academy in 1959 and then received part of his pilot training at Vance Air Force Base in Enid, Oklahoma!

He was selected as an astronaut by NASA in 1969 and was pilot for the maiden voyage of Challenger (STS-6) in April 1983.

He served as commander of Discovery (STS-51-D) in April 1985.

His third and final flight was commander of Atlantis (STS-51-J) in October 1985.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman!

Jeffrey Alan Hoffman, born November 2, 1944 in Brooklyn, New York, is a veteran of 5 space shuttle flights and is the first Jewish astronaut from the United States. 

His first flight was aboard Discovery (STS-51-D) in April 1985, as mission specialist.  Discovery landed at Kennedy Space Center but suffered major brake damage and blew out a tire so future shuttle flights had to land at Edwards Air Force Base until NASA could improve the brake assembly and make it safer.

His second mission was aboard Columbia (STS-35) in December 1990 also as mission specialist.  He and fellow astronaut Sam Durrance conducted the first Space Classroom Program, designed to get children interested in math and science.

His third mission was on Atlantis (STS-46) in July-August 1992.  He flew with the first Italian citizen in space, Franco Malerba. 

His fourth flight was the first servicing mission to the Hubble Telescope, on Endeavour (STS-61) in December 1993.  Launched 3 1/2 years previously, the Hubble Telescope had a "spherical abberation" that distorted images and rendered most of its data unuseable.

Hoffman's fifth and final flight was back on Columbia (STS-75) February-March 1996.  He flew with two more Italian astronauts, Maurizio Cheli and Umberto Guidoni.