STS-29

Michael Coats

• Birthday: 01/16/1946
• Role: Commander
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 08/30/1984
• Last Flight: 04/28/1991

Michael Lloyd Coats is a former NASA astronaut (three spaceflights), raised in Riverside, California. From December 2005 to December 2012, he served as Director of the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

John E. Blaha

• Birthday: 08/26/1942
• Role: Pilot
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 03/13/1989
• Last Flight: 09/16/1996

John Elmer Blaha is a retired United States Air Force colonel and a former NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of five space missions aboard the Space Shuttle and Mir.

Blaha is married to the former Brenda I. Walters of St. Louis, Missouri. They have three grown children and four grandchildren.

James P. Bagian

• Birthday: 02/22/1952
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 03/13/1989
• Last Flight: 06/05/1991

James Philip Bagian, MD, PE is an American physician, engineer, and former NASA astronaut of Armenian descent. During his career as an astronaut, he logged 337 hours of space-flight, over two missions, STS-29 (in 1989) and STS-40 (in 1991). After leaving NASA in 1995, Bagian was elected as a member of both the National Academy of Engineering and of the Institute of Medicine. Bagian is currently the Director of the Center for Healthcare Engineering and Patient Safety at the University of Michigan.

Robert C. Springer

• Birthday: 05/21/1942
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 03/13/1989
• Last Flight: 11/15/1990

Robert Clyde “Bob” Springer is a retired American astronaut and test pilot who flew as a Mission Specialist on two NASA Space Shuttle missions in 1989 and 1990. A decorated aviator in the United States Marine Corps, Springer also flew more than 500 combat sorties during the Vietnam War. He has logged over 237 hours in space and 4,500 hours flying time, including 3,500 hours in jet aircraft.

James Buchli

• Birthday: 06/20/1945
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 01/24/1985
• Last Flight: 09/12/1991

James Frederick Buchli is a retired United States Marine aviator and former NASA astronaut who flew on four Space Shuttle missions.

STS-29

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

STS-29 was the eighth flight of Discovery and its primary mission was to deploy the TDRS-D 10 satellite. It also deployed eight secondary payloads.

Launch Complex 39B

Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

Launch Complex 39B has witnessed the launch of 58 rockets, including 57 orbital launch attempts, while Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA, has been the site for 244 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.