STS-61-C

Robert L. Gibson

• Birthday: 10/30/1946
• Role: Commander
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 02/03/1984
• Last Flight: 06/27/1995

Robert Lee "Hoot" Gibson is a former American naval officer and aviator, test pilot, aeronautical engineer, and a r...

Charles Bolden

• Birthday: 08/19/1946
• Role: Pilot
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 01/12/1986
• Last Flight: 02/03/1994

Charles Frank Bolden Jr. is a former Administrator of NASA, a retired United States Marine Corps Major General, and a former ...

Bill Nelson

• Birthday: 09/29/1942
• Role: Payload Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 01/12/1986
• Last Flight: 01/12/1986

Clarence William Nelson II (born September 29, 1942) is an American politician serving as the senior United States Senator fr...

Robert J. Cenker

• Birthday: 11/05/1948
• Role: Payload Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 01/12/1986
• Last Flight: 01/12/1986

Robert Joseph "Bob" Cenker (born November 5, 1948) is an American aerospace and electrical engineer, aerospace syst...

George Nelson

• Birthday: 07/13/1950
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 04/06/1984
• Last Flight: 09/29/1988

George Driver "Pinky" Nelson is an American physicist, astronomer, science educator, and a former NASA astronaut.

Steven Hawley

• Birthday: 12/12/1951
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 08/30/1984
• Last Flight: 07/23/1999

Steven Alan Hawley is a former NASA astronaut who flew on five U.S. Space Shuttle flights. He is professor of physics and ast...

Franklin Chang Díaz

• Birthday: 04/05/1950
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• First Flight: 01/12/1986
• Last Flight: 06/05/2002

Franklin Ramón Chang Díaz is a Costa Rican Chinese American mechanical engineer, physicist, former NASA astronaut. He is th...

Mission

STS-61-C

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

STS-61-C was the twenty-fourth mission of the shuttle program and the seventh of the Space Shuttle Columbia. The mission included the second African-American shuttle pilot, future NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, the first Costa Rican born astronaut and the second sitting politican to fly in space: Bill Nelson.

Location

Launch Complex 39A

Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

Find the best place to watch the launch from Florida

Launch Complex 39A has witnessed the launch of 208 rockets, including 207 orbital launch attempts. While Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA, has been the site for 266 rocket launches.

The John F. Kennedy Space Center, located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of NASA's ten field centers. Since 1968, KSC has been NASA's primary launch center of American spaceflight, research, and technology. Launch operations for the Apollo, Skylab and Space Shuttle programs were carried out from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 and managed by KSC. Located on the east coast of Florida, KSC is adjacent to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS).

Rocket

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.

Learn more about the Space Shuttle