Happy birthday, astronaut Anna Lee Fisher!

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. 

Discovery (STS-51-I) launched 1985

STS-51-I crew

Front row L-R: Joe Engle, Richard Covey

Back row L-R: James van Hoften, John Lounge, William Fisher

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-51-I), launched August 27, 1985, was the sixth flight for Discovery.  Its crew consisted of Commander Joe H. Engle, Pilot Richard Covey, James van Hoften, John Lounge and William Fisher. 

Fisher and van Hoften conducted two EVAs for a total of almost 12 hours.

They returned to Earth September 3.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut James "Ox" Hoften!

James Dougal Adrianus van Hoften, born June 11, 1944 in Fresno, California is a veteran of two space shuttle flights.  He received a PhD in Hydraulic Engineering from Colorado State University and did two tours in Southeast Asia where he flew over 60 combat missions.

He was selected as an astronaut in January 1978.  His first mission was aboard Challenger (STS-41-C) as mission specialist in April 1984.  He conducted two EVAs during the mission with fellow astronaut George Nelson, logging just over 10 hours in space.

His second and last mission was aboard Discovery (STS-51-I) as mission specialist August-September 1985, where he performed two more EVAs with William Fisher, logging almost 12 hours in space.

He retired from NASA in August 1986.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut William Fisher!

William Frederick Fisher, born April 1, 1946 in Dallas, Texas, flew on Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-51-I) August-September 1985 as mission specialist. It was his only flight into space.  After leaving NASA, he returned to practice emergency medicine in Houston.