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This is the future that was....

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Hart Sastrowardoyo Member Posts: 3445 From: Toms River, NJ Registered: Aug 2000	posted 05-17-2004 11:12 PM Got a couple of neat booklets. Published by Morton Thiokol, they're entitled "Space Shuttle Payload Launch Schedule and Astronaut Flight Assignments." From the 28 March 1985 edition: Mission 51I: Engle, Covey, van Hoften, Lounge, W. Fisher, Jarvis and Walker 61A using Columbia 61B using Challenger 61C using Columbia but with Scobee, Smith, Resnick, Onizuka, McNair, an RCA PS and a PS to be assigned 51L using Challenger but with Gibson, Bolden, Chang-Diaz, Hawley, Nelson, and the Teacher in Space 61H with Coats, Blaha, A. Fisher, Thagard, Springer and PSs from Indonesia and Great Britain Anybody with Photoshop wanna do crew emblems or crew photos? These booklets are neat. I have two from 1983; the only other interesting one is from January 1984 with the original crew of Engle, Covey, Buchli, Lounge and W. Fisher, then called 51C; the Spacelab 4/61D crew of Fabian (pilot); and Bagian and Seddon (MSs); and the standby crew of Bobko, Grabe, Mullane, Stewart, and Hilmers. The 1984 booklet also shows a three-day (!) period between the launch of Spacelab 4 and of Mission 61E, which then was a DoD launch... would have really been interesting to have both Mission Controls used to support two missions at the same time.
OV-105 Member Posts: 816 From: Ridgecrest, CA Registered: Sep 2000	posted 05-19-2004 08:08 PM The IUS problem from STS-6 way back in 1983 caused a lot of the problems with flight assignments until 1986. Then add the STS41-D abort in 1984 and that bumped crews again. How times did the STS41-F crew patch get changed? I think that it must hold some record for most times a patch was made and no flight. If STS51-E had not been cancelled at one time it would have been the crew that flew STS61-B on STS51-L. Dave Griggs was to be the PLT on STS61-D and John Fabian would be the third pilot. They did this with Jim Buchli on STS61-A also. They had the CDR's doing split shifts on the 24 hour flights so they would have a MS be in charge of the orbiter when the CDR and PLT were on the same shift. After Challenger I don't think they ever said anything more about the third pilot. The did come up with the payload CDR. It is sometimes fun to look back at what could have been with the shuttle. I still think it is wrong to ground it once the station is done. It will be a waste. One more thing the stand by crew was a NASA/DOD thing to have crewmembers ready for a flight if anything happened to a crewmember during training. No back up crews were named for shuttle flights after STS-4. I think the only time we might have seen two shuttles in orbit at the same time would have been the STS61-F and STS61-G flights or maybe when (if) they would have flown out of Vandenberg AFB.
Hart Sastrowardoyo Member Posts: 3445 From: Toms River, NJ Registered: Aug 2000	posted 05-20-2004 08:57 AM quote: Originally posted by OV-105: I think the only time we might have seen two shuttles in orbit at the same time would have been the STS61-F and STS61-G flights or maybe when (if) they would have flown out of Vandenberg AFB. Mission 61F and 61G were to have lasted two days apiece (May 15 and May 21 were the launch dates, I believe.) I wish I had more time to talk to Hauck - he didn't seem phased by the thought of having a fully fueled liquid booster in the shuttle (though they didn't get to the point of installing it.) Definitely the right choice for commanding the first Return to Flight, IMHO.
Tom Member Posts: 1597 From: New York Registered: Nov 2000	posted 05-20-2004 04:12 PM You mentioned about NASA not assigning a back-up shuttle crew after STS-3...Mike Smith was assigned as back-up Pilot to Loren Shriver on STS-51C... a DOD mission.

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