STS-6

Paul J. Weitz

• Birthday: 07/25/1932
• Role: Commander
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 05/25/1973
• Last Flight: 04/04/1983

Paul Joseph Weitz was an American naval officer and aviator, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, and NASA astronaut, who flew into space twice. He was a member of the three-man crew who flew on Skylab 2, the first manned Skylab mission. He was also Commander of the STS-6 mission, the first of the Space Shuttle Challenger flights.

Karol J. Bobko

• Birthday: 12/23/1937
• Role: Pilot
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 04/04/1983
• Last Flight: 10/03/1985

Karol Joseph “Bo” Bobko is an American aerospace engineer, retired U.S. Air Force officer, test pilot, and a former USAF and NASA astronaut.

Donald H. Peterson

• Birthday: 10/22/1933
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 04/04/1983
• Last Flight: 04/04/1983

Donald Herod Peterson was a United States Air Force officer and NASA astronaut. Peterson was originally selected for the Air Force Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) program, but, when that was canceled, he became a NASA astronaut in September 1969. He was a mission specialist on STS-6 on board Challenger. During the mission Peterson performed a spacewalk to test the new airlock and space suits. He logged 120 hours in space. Peterson retired from NASA in 1984.

Story Musgrave

• Birthday: 08/19/1935
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 04/04/1983
• Last Flight: 11/19/1996

Franklin Story Musgrave, M.D. is an American physician and a retired NASA astronaut. He is a public speaker[2] and consultant to both Disney’s Imagineering group and Applied Minds in California. In 1996 he became only the second astronaut to fly on six spaceflights, and he is the most formally educated astronaut with six academic degrees.

STS-6

• Type: Communications
• Orbit: Low Earth Orbit
• Launch Cost: $450,000,000

STS-6 was the maiden flight of the Space Shuttle Challenger. It deployed the first Tracking and Data Relay Satellite into orbit for NASA, forming an integral part of NASAs in-space 10. It was also the first Space Shuttle mission involving a spacewalk. It was the first mission in which the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) was used.

Launch Complex 39A

Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

Launch Complex 39A has witnessed the launch of 174 rockets, including 173 orbital launch attempts, while Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA, has been the site for 232 rocket launches.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Space Shuttle

The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS). Five complete Space Shuttle orbiter vehicles were built and flown on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011.