Sherwood Spring, born September 3, 1944 in Hartford, Connecticut, went into space aboard space shuttle Atlantis (STS-61-B) as mission specialist in November-December 1985. During the mission, he performed two EVAs with fellow astronaut Jerry Ross, lasting over 12 hours.
Back row L-R: Charles Walker, Jerry Ross, Mary Cleave, Sherwood Spring, Rodolfo Neri Vela
Front row L-R: Bryan O'Connor, Brewster Shaw
Mission patch
Space Shuttle Atlantis blasted off November 26, 1985 from Kennedy Space Center for the 23rd mission of the shuttle program. The takeoff came just 54 days after the launch of STS-51-J, the quickest turnaround between launches. Her crew consisted of Commander Brewster Shaw, Pilot Bryan O'Connor, Mission Specialist 1 Jerry Ross, Mission Specialist 2 Mary Cleave, Mission Specialist 3 Sherwood Spring, Payload Specialist Charles Walker and Payload Specialist 2 Rodolfo Neri Vela.
Vela is the first Mexican astronaut in space. Jerry Ross and Sherwood Spring performed two EVAs to demonstrate the feasibility of assembling large structures in space.
Atlantis returned to Earth December 3 at Edwards Air Force Base.
