STS-33

Frederick D. Gregory

• Birthday: 01/07/1941
• Role: Commander
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 04/29/1985
• Last Flight: 11/24/1991

Frederick Drew Gregory is a former United States Air Force pilot, military engineer, test pilot, and NASA astronaut as well as former NASA Deputy Administrator. He also served briefly as NASA Acting Administrator in early 2005, covering the period between the departure of Sean O’Keefe and the swearing in of Michael Griffin.

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.

Sonny Carter

• Birthday: 08/15/1947
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 11/23/1989
• Last Flight: 11/23/1989

Manley Lanier “Sonny” Carter Jr., M.D. was an American chemist, physician, professional soccer player, naval officer and aviator, test pilot, and NASA astronaut who flew on STS-33.

Kathryn C. Thornton

• Birthday: 08/17/1952
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 11/23/1989
• Last Flight: 10/20/1995

Kathryn Ryan Cordell Thornton is an American scientist and a former NASA astronaut with over 975 hours in space, including 21 hours of extravehicular activity. She was the associate dean for graduate programs at the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science, currently a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering.

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-33

• Type: Government/Top Secret
• Orbit: Low Earth Orbit
• Launch Cost: $450,000,000

STS-33 was the thirty-second shuttle mission and the ninth of Space Shuttle Discovery. It was the fifth shuttle mission in support of the Department of Defence.

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 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.