Happy birthday, German astronaut Ulf Merbold!

Dr. Ulf Merbold, born June 20, 1941 in Germany, is a retired European Space Agency astronaut and went into space three times. 

His first mission was aboard Columbia (STS-9) as payload specialist in November-December 1983.  He is the first non-US citizen to reach orbit in a US spacecraft.

His second mission was aboard Discovery (STS-42) as payload specialist in January 1992.  The main goal of the mission was to study microgravity on different organisms.

His third and final mission was aboard Soyuz TM-20 as research cosmonaut to the space station Mir in October 1994.  He participated in a month-long expedition Euromir 94.  He returned to Earth in November 1994 on Soyuz TM-19.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Brewster Shaw!

Brewster Shaw, born May 16, 1945 in Cass City, Michigan, is a veteran of three space shuttle missions.

His first flight was aboard Columbia (STS-9) as pilot in November-December 1983.  It was the first flight of the Spacelab laboratory module.

His second flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-61-B) as commander November-December 1985.  The mission deployed three communications satellites.

His third and final mission was aboard Columbia (STS-28) as commander in August 1989.  The mission carried a payload for the Dept of Defense in to orbit.

Shaw was inducted into the US Astronaut Hall of Fame in May 2006.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Anthony England!

Anthony England, born May 15, 1942 in Indianapolis, Indiana, went into space aboard Challenger (STS-51-F) as mission specialist in July-August 1985.  He was the second amateur radio operator to trasnmit from space during the mission.  Owen Garriott was the first in 1983 from STS-9.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Byron Lichtenberg!

Byron Lichtenberg, born February 19, 1948 in Pennsylvania, is a payload specialist on two Space Shuttle flights. 

His first flight was aboard Columbia (STS-9) as payload specialist in November-December 1983.  The mission carried the first Spacelab module into orbit. 

His second and final flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-45) as payload specialist in March-April 1992.  The mission carried the first Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science (ATLAS-1) into orbit.

John Young, Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle astronaut, born 1930

John W. Young, born September 24, 1930 in San Francisco, California, has been referred to as NASA's most experienced astronaut.  He was the only person to participate in three different space programs. 

In the 1960s, he flew on Gemini 3 and Gemini 10.  He flew on Apollo 10 and Apollo 16, making him one of three people to go to the moon twice.  In the 1980s, he flew twice on Columbia (STS-1), the first space shuttle flight, and again on STS-9.

After 42 years with NASA, he retired in December 2004.  He passed away in January 2018 from complications from pneumonia. 

Remembering astronaut John Young (1930-2018)

John Watts Young, an astronaut whose career spanned the Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle programs, passed away yesterday at age 87.  In 1965, he flew on the first manned Gemini mission, Gemini 3 and was commander of Gemini X in July 1966.

On Apollo 10, he became the first person to orbit the moon and drove the Lunar Roving Vehicle on the moon during the Apollo 16 mission.  He is one of three people to go to the moon twice.

In April 1981, he commanded the first Space Shuttle mission, STS-1 on Columbia.  His sixth and final mission was commander on Columbia (STS-9) in November 1983.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Robert Parker!

Robert Allan Parker, born December 14, 1936 in New York City, is a veteran of two Space Shuttle flights.  He was selected as an astronaut by NASA in 1967 and was a member of the Astronaut Support Crews for Apollo 15 and 17. He was a program scientist for all three Skylab missions.

His first shuttle flight was on Columbia (STS-9) in November-December 1983 as a mission specialist.  He traveled with Ulf Merbold, the first ESA and West German in space.

Parker's second and final flights was also on Columbia (STS-35) in December 1990.  He retired from NASA in August 2005.

Columbia (STS-9) launches 1983

 

L-R: Owen Garriott, Byron Lichtenberg, Brewster Shaw, John Young, Ulf Merbold, Robert Parker

Mission patch

The sixth mission of Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-9), launched November 28, 1983, carried the first Spacelab module into orbit.  She carried six astronauts for the first time.  Her crew consisted of Commander John Young, Pilot Brewster Shaw, Missional Specialist Owen Garriott (Okie!), Mission Specialist Robert Parker, Payload Specialist Ulf Merbold, and Payload Specialist Byron Lichtenberg.  Merbold was the first non-U.S. citizen, the first West German citizen (remember this was before the Berlin Wall came down), and the first ESA astronaut in space.

Garriott made the first ham radio transmissions from space during the flight.  The crew carried out numerous experiments on the effects of low gravity on the human body.  See the highlight video below.

Columbia landed December 8, ten days after launch.  The crew was looking forward to taking showers since they had not been able to for over a week.  What did Columbia smell like on the inside after they landed?

Happy birthday, Skylab, Space Shuttle astronaut (and Okie!) Owen Garriott!

Owen K. Garriott, born November 22, 1930 in Enid, Oklahoma, flew on  Skylab 3 and the Space Shuttle Columbia.  He was selected as an astronaut in 1965 and his first mission was aboard Skylab 3 from July - September 1973, doubling the amount of time astronauts spent in space from the previous record.

During the mission, the controllers in Houston were surprised to hear a woman's voice coming from Skylab 3, even calling Bob Crippen by name.  She explained:

"The boys haven't had a home-cooked meal in so long I thought I'd bring one up." After several minutes in which she described forest fires seen from space and the beautiful sunrise, the woman said: "Oh oh. I have to cut off now. I think the boys are floating up here toward the command module and I'm not supposed to be talking to you." 

Garriott had recorded his wife the night before liftoff and the crew was in on the prank.

Garriott's second flight was aboard Columbia (STS-9) November-December 1983 as a mission specialist.  His son Richard flew aboard Soyuz TMA-13 in October 2008, becoming the first American to follow a parent into space.