#sts-47

[lonestarflight]

I should mention, there are married astronauts (ie an astronaut married to another astronaut) and NASA has a strict no rule against the pair being on the same mission together. Just in case the mission ends in a disaster.

However, there was one case that did. STS-47 lifted off on September 12, 1992 and carried Mark Lee and Jan Davis into orbit on Space Shuttle Endeavour. The pair met during training for the mission and secretly got married in January 1992. They did not disclose their marriage to NASA until it was too late to train a substitute. They are the first and only married couple to fly into space.

[gregorygalloway]

Mark Charles Lee (born 14 August 1952) 

[gusgrissom]

“Then of course I’ll always remember [pilot] Curt Brown, he was fun to work with. He actually pulled me down to take this photo. This is definitely a keepsake right here.” –Sharon McDougle, NASA suit tech for STS-47

[todaysdocument]

Mae Jemison: First African American Woman In Space, 9/12/1992

Mission Specialist (MS) Mae Jemison poses in Spacelab-Japan (SLJ). File Unit: STS-47, 4/12/1981 - 7/21/2011. Series: Mission Photographs Taken During the Space Shuttle Program , 4/12/1981 - 7/21/2011. Record Group 255: Records of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1903 - 2006

25 years ago Dr. Mae Jemison became the first African-American woman in space during @nasa‘s mission STS-47 aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour on  September 12, 1992.

(Also from today in space history? President Kennedy’s historic Moon address of 9/12/1962)

(via GIPHY)

[lonestarflight]

Missions of Endeavour (OV-105)

"CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- This orbiter tribute of space shuttle Endeavour, or OV-105, hangs in Firing Room 4 of the Launch Control Center at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It features Endeavour soaring into orbit above the sailing vessel HMS Endeavour for which it was named. The Cupola, delivered to the International Space Station by Endeavour on STS-130, frames various images that represent the processing and execution of the Space Shuttle Program. Clockwise from top, are the first-ever use of a drag chute during the STS-49 landing, rollout to a launch pad, a ferry flight return to Kennedy, rolling into an orbiter processing facility, docking to the International Space Station, and lifting operations before being mated to an external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters in the Vehicle Assembly Building. The background image was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope and signifies the first shuttle servicing mission, which was performed by Endeavour's STS-61 crew. Crew-designed patches from Endeavour’s maiden voyage through its final mission are shown ascending toward the stars. Five orbiter tributes are on display in the firing room, representing Atlantis, Challenger, Columbia, Endeavour and Discovery."

Date: July 29, 2010

NASA ID: KSC-2010-4454

[gregorygalloway]

Mark Charles Lee (born 14 August 1952) 

[gregorygalloway]

The Space Shuttle Endeavour began its 2nd mission (and the 50th shuttle mission) on 12 September 1992.

The 8-day mission included Commander Robert Gibson, Pilot Curtis Brown, Mission Specialists Jay Apt, Jan Davis, Mae Jemison, and Mark Lee, and Payload Specialist Mamoru Mohri.

Mark Lee and Jan Davis had secretly married a few weeks before the launch, becoming the first married couple in space.

[gregorygalloway]

Curtis Lee Brown, Jr. (born 11 March 1956)