STS-49

Crew

Daniel Brandenstein

Status: Retired
1/17/1943 -
Nationality: American
Type: Government
First Flight: 8/30/1983
Last Flight: 5/7/1992

Daniel Charles Brandenstein is the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of United Space Alliance. He is a former Naval Aviator, test pilot and NASA astronaut, who flew four Space Shuttle missions.

Kathryn C. Thornton

Status: Retired
8/17/1952 -
Nationality: American
Type: Government
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.

Pierre J. Thuot

Status: Retired
5/19/1955 -
Nationality: American
Type: Government
First Flight: 2/28/1990
Last Flight: 3/4/1994

Pierre Joseph Thuot is a retired United States Navy Captain and NASA astronaut. He went into space three times, spending over 650 hours in space, including over 15 hours in three space walks. He is a former U.S. record holder for time spent on one space walk, and participated in the first three-person space walk.

Bruce E. Melnick

Status: Retired
12/5/1949 -
Nationality: American
Type: Government
First Flight: 10/6/1990
Last Flight: 5/7/1992

Bruce Edward Melnick is a former American astronaut and retired United States Coast Guard officer. Following retirement from NASA and the Coast Guard, he entered the aerospace industry. He served as a Vice President with the Boeing Co.'s Integrated Defense Systems group, in charge of Boeing's Florida operations at the John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Melnick retired in 2008 and currently resides on Merritt Island, Florida.

Thomas Akers

Status: Retired
5/20/1951 -
Nationality: American
Type: Government
First Flight: 10/6/1990
Last Flight: 9/16/1996

Thomas Dale Akers is a former American astronaut in NASA's Space Shuttle program.

Richard Hieb

Status: Retired
9/21/1955 -
Nationality: American
Type: Government
First Flight: 4/28/1991
Last Flight: 7/8/1994

Richard James Hieb is a former NASA astronaut and a veteran of three space shuttle missions. He was a mission specialist on STS-39 and STS-49, and was a payload commander on STS-65.

Kevin P. Chilton

Status: Retired
11/3/1954 -
Nationality: American
Type: Government
First Flight: 5/7/1992
Last Flight: 3/22/1996

Kevin Patrick "Chilli" Chilton is an American mechanical engineer, and former United States Air Force four-star General and test pilot. His last assignment was as Commander, U.S. Strategic Command from October 3, 2007 to January 28, 2011. Prior to his appointment to general officer ranks, Chilton spent 11 years of his military career as a NASA astronaut. He retired from the Air Force on February 1, 2011, after having achieved the highest rank of any military astronaut. On January 30, 2012, General Chilton was named to the board of directors of Orbital Sciences Corporation.

Rocket

Space Shuttle – National Aeronautics and Space Administration

• Family: Space Shuttle
• Length: 56.1 m
• Diameter: 8 m
• Launch Mass: 2030 T
• Low Earth Orbit Capacity: 27500 kg

The Space Shuttle was manufactured by National Aeronautics and Space Administration with the first launch on 1981-04-12. Space Shuttle has 133 successful launches and 2 failed launches with a total of 135 launches. 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.

Agency

Lockheed Space Operations Company – LSOC

• Type: Commercial
• Abbreviation: LSOC
• Country: USA