John H. Konrad
One of four Hughes payload specialists, named (along with Greg Jarvis) as prime for a mission that kept slipping. Eventually he was named to STS-61L, a late November 1986 flight.
Jarvis, however, was killed in the Challenger accident that January, and the subsequent removal of most commercial satellites from deployment by shuttle meant Konrad lost his chance to fly.
Konrad was chosen to represent Hughes as a payload specialists on a shuttle flights then-planned for 1985 (STS-51-I/Columbia, sked for August 1985), a Hughes selection committee announced June 14, 1984.
Konrad, who had been with the company for eight years, was a project manager in Division 40’s Systems Engineering Lab.
William Butterworth, assistant program manager of SCG’s Galileo Probe effort, and Stephen Cunningham, manager, Systems Analysis were named alternates for the two flights.
The payload specialists and two alternates were selected from a pool of nearly 600 applicants.
“It was a difficult decision because there were so many excellent candidates,” Robert Roney, SCG vice president and selection committee member, said at that time, in an employee newsletter. “If this first payload specialist program is a success it will be continued on subsequent launches of Hughes communications satellites, offering additional opportunities for employees to fly on future shuttle missions.”
Hughes’ payload specialist program would have marked the first time a commercial customer will participate in the launch of a privately owned satellite. (When Jarvis flew on Challenger, that flight carried no Hughes satellites.)
John H. Konrad
One of four Hughes payload specialists, named (along with Greg Jarvis) as prime for a mission that kept slipping. Eventually he was named to STS-61L, a late November 1986 flight.
Jarvis, however, was killed in the Challenger accident that January, and the subsequent removal of most commercial satellites from deployment by shuttle meant Konrad lost his chance to fly.
Konrad was chosen to represent Hughes as a payload specialists on a shuttle flights then-planned for 1985 (STS-51-I/Columbia, sked for August 1985), a Hughes selection committee announced June 14, 1984.
Konrad, who had been with the company for eight years, was a project manager in Division 40’s Systems Engineering Lab.
William Butterworth, assistant program manager of SCG’s Galileo Probe effort, and Stephen Cunningham, manager, Systems Analysis were named alternates for the two flights.
The payload specialists and two alternates were selected from a pool of nearly 600 applicants.
“It was a difficult decision because there were so many excellent candidates,” Robert Roney, SCG vice president and selection committee member, said at that time, in an employee newsletter. “If this first payload specialist program is a success it will be continued on subsequent launches of Hughes communications satellites, offering additional opportunities for employees to fly on future shuttle missions.”
Hughes’ payload specialist program would have marked the first time a commercial customer will participate in the launch of a privately owned satellite. (When Jarvis flew on Challenger, that flight carried no Hughes satellites.)