#sts-51

[gregorygalloway]

Joe Engle (born 26 August 1932)

[gregorygalloway]

Thomas Ken Mattingly II (born 17 March 1936)

[gregorygalloway]

After 3 scrubbed launches, the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-51) lifted off on 12 September 1993.

The mission included the utilization of an IMAX camera, as well as evaluation of equipment for adjustments to the Hubble Space Telescope.

The 10-day mission included Commander Frank Culbertson, Pilot Wiliiam Readdy, and Mission Specialists Dan Bursch, James Newman, and Carl Walz.

[bow-echo]

When the Challenger blew up

... I was twenty years old, sitting on the living room floor, and watching a soap opera -- whichever was on before All My Children.  Loving maybe? -- then the news interrupted.  I sat there, unable to move other than to light another cigarette. They showed the footage over and over.  My roommate came home from her job at the Jewel (absolutely jacked on the powder), looked at the TV for a second, said, “Who gives a flying fuck?” and stomped off to her room.  I just sat there stunned. At the time she was nineteen years old and five feet and ninety pounds of selfish rage. I have no idea why she did that, no idea if she had something going on before: her boyfriend was very abusive and enabled her cocaine relapse.  I haven’t been pissed off about it for a long time.  I haven’t seen her since 2004.  I wonder how she’s doing now.

[cosmicportal]

[j-b-a-blog]