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Author
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Topic: STS-61A question
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OV-105
Member Posts: 816
From: Ridgecrest, CA
Registered: Sep 2000
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posted 09-29-2004 05:55 PM
   
O.K. after almost 19 years and still not finding anything anywhere I will toss this one out to the group. Why did STS-61A have a crew of 8? This was the only flight Spacelab or otherwise that had a crew this size. Makes you wonder why other Spacelab flights did have crews that size. |
Apollo-Soyuz
Member Posts: 1205
From: Shady Side, Md
Registered: Sep 2004
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posted 09-29-2004 06:33 PM
If I may guess, the reason for the crew of 8 may have been the commander and pilot each are on one shift and the remaining 6 crewmembers are divided into 2 shifts of three. This allowed four on each shift- one to watch Orbiter systems and the other 3 to run the experiments. Just a very uneducated guess.  ------------------
John Macco
Shady Side, MD |
Apollo-Soyuz
Member Posts: 1205
From: Shady Side, Md
Registered: Sep 2004
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posted 09-29-2004 06:34 PM
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John Macco
Shady Side, MD [This message has been edited by Apollo-Soyuz (edited September 29, 2004).] |
Ben
Member Posts: 1896
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: May 2000
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posted 09-29-2004 06:47 PM
While STS-61A is the only flight to launch with 8 onboard, STS-71 returned from Mir also with 8.------------------
-Ben http://www.geocities.com/ovcolumbia/ |
OV-105
Member Posts: 816
From: Ridgecrest, CA
Registered: Sep 2000
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posted 09-29-2004 08:27 PM
I forgot about STS-71. On 61A there were the 2 shifts like most Spacelab flights But Hank Hartsfeild split his time between the 2 shifts. Mission Specialist 1 Jim Buchli got to "fly" the shuttle on his shift when Hartsfeild was on the other shift. Some of the shift flights after Chllenger had the CDR and the PLT on the same shift the the MS/PC on the other and was also incharge of the orbiter. I do not remember which flights, I would have to did out the info I can't remeber them off the top of my head. |
Jacques van Oene
Member Posts: 861
From: Houten, The Netherlands
Registered: Oct 2001
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posted 10-01-2004 02:43 PM
The reason for 8 is Wubbo Ockels....He did not made STS-9 (A bit strange because Ockels and Nicolier did the mission specialist training with the ASCAN 1980 class), A German, Ulf Merbold, Flew..(The reason for that was that Germany built the spacelab module) .The Germans and ESA said to him that he would be on the next flight of spacelab (at that time it was the D-1 mission) and so he flew....on STS-61A. Later after delay after delay and Germany paying more and more they wanted 2 astronauts on board, NASA said it needed 5 of their own... so that made 8.....
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Jacques :-)
www.spacepatches.info |
Jacques van Oene
Member Posts: 861
From: Houten, The Netherlands
Registered: Oct 2001
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posted 10-01-2004 02:47 PM
STS-61A:Blue/Red Team leader: Hartsflied
Blue Team: Nagel, Dunbar, Furrer
Red Team: Buchli, Blufford, Messerschmid
Both Teams: Ockels
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Jacques :-)
www.spacepatches.info
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