Shuttle’s crew

Press, 30 January 1986, Page 4

Shuttle’s crew

NZPA-Reuter Cape Canaveral Flight 51L carried seven astronauts including the shuttle programme’s first ordinary citizen. Christa McAuliffe, aged 37, a Concord, New Hampshire, social studies teacher, was selected in July from among more than 11,000 teacher applicants to participate in the shuttle programme. Other crew members were:

Francis (Dick) Scobee, aged 46, who joined the American space agency in 1978. He was commissioned in 1965 and his assignments included a tour of duty in Vietnam. He was the pilot aboard a 1984 shuttle flight and had logged more than 6500 hours in 45 aircraft. He retired from the United States Air Force in January 1980, after more than 22 years of active service. He continued his assignment as a N.A.S.A. astronaut He was married with two children.

Ronald McNair, aged 35, mission specialist became an astronaut in 1978. He had logged nearly 191 hours in space.

He had a doctorate in physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1976. In 1975 he studeed laser physics in France with many authorities in the field. Dr McNair had won several scholarships and fellowships and was married.

Judith Resnik, aged 36, one of three mission specialists aboard. She had a doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of Maryland in 1977. She became an astronaut in 1978 and had logged hearty 145 hours in space.

Dr Resnik’s special honours included the American Association of University Women Fellow 1975 to 1976. She was single.

Commander Michael Smith, United States Navy, aged 40, Challenger’s pilot, became an astronaut in 1980. He held a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering and was decorated several times while serving as a pilot in Vietnam. Lieutenapt Colonel Ellison Ontouka, United States Air Force, aged 39, mission specialist, was an aerospace flight test engineer who joined the space agency in 1978. Gregory Jarvis, aged 42, payload specialist, was an electrical engineer.