STS-51-C crew
This was yet another one I couldn't resist picking up for a song (OK, a few bars of a song), even though it's not (as yet) a crew-complete item: The landing of Discovery at the conclusion of the STS-51-C mission.
Yes, it has Onizuka's autograph. But I also like the photo because 51C was a secret shuttle mission - a "black" flight - and what do we see? The black underside of the shuttle.
The photo is original to 1985, complete with purple identification writing (although it has been trimmed for an unknown reason.)
Then-Air Force Lt. Col. Gary E. Payton wrote the 'coming home!' inscription. Payton was the first Manned Spaceflght Engineer to make a flight.
Now retired from the service, Payton is the deputy under-secretary of the Air Force for Space Programs.
Then-Air Force Col. Loren J. Shriver, the pilot, made his first flight on 51C.
Shriver later flew on two other missions: STS-31R, which deployed the Hubble Space Telescope; and STS-46, the first Tethered Satellite System test flight.
Shriver later became the Deputy Director of NASA's Kennedy Space Center for Launch and Payload Processing.
Then Air-Force Lt. Col. Ellison S. Onizuka, a mission specialist, made his first flight on 51C. Onizuka was later to lose his life, as did his six crewmates, in the Challenger 51L accident a few months later.
Of the two other astronauts on 51C, then-Marine Col. James F. Buchli, another mission specialist; and then-Navy Capt. Thomas K. 'Ken' Mattingly II, the commander, Mattingly can be a difficult autograph to obtain.
(This was also Buchli's first flight. He later flew on STS-61-A, the first German spacelab; STS-29R, whose crew mostly came from the canceled after Challenger STS-61-H/Columbia mission; and STS-48, which deployed the Upper Atmosphere Research satellite.
Mattingly, in addition to flying on Apollo 13, flew on the fourth and last orbital test flight, STS-4. 51C was his last spaceflight, and he eventually rose to the rank of rear admiral.)
But I finally got Jim Lovell to sign the foreword of my "Space Shuttle: The First 20 Years" book so I can hold out hope for a Mattingly signature to add to this photo. And I'll just have to look out for Buchli making an appearance.
The STS-51-C crew originally were going to fly as STS-10, but problems with the Inertial Upper Stage booster on STS-6 forced the removal of an IUS-boosted TDRS satellite from STS-8, as well as the postponement and/or cancelation of STS-10 and 12.
The STS-10 crew, with a different payload specialist other than Payton, had been slated to fly STS-41-E (also known as STS-15.)
And finally, STS-51-C was slated to fly on Challenger, but issues with that orbiter's thermal protection system resulted in Discovery being substituted.
STS-51-C crew
This was yet another one I couldn't resist picking up for a song (OK, a few bars of a song), even though it's not (as yet) a crew-complete item: The landing of Discovery at the conclusion of the STS-51-C mission.
Yes, it has Onizuka's autograph. But I also like the photo because 51C was a secret shuttle mission - a "black" flight - and what do we see? The black underside of the shuttle.
The photo is original to 1985, complete with purple identification writing (although it has been trimmed for an unknown reason.)
Then-Air Force Lt. Col. Gary E. Payton wrote the 'coming home!' inscription. Payton was the first Manned Spaceflght Engineer to make a flight.
Now retired from the service, Payton is the deputy under-secretary of the Air Force for Space Programs.
Then-Air Force Col. Loren J. Shriver, the pilot, made his first flight on 51C.
Shriver later flew on two other missions: STS-31R, which deployed the Hubble Space Telescope; and STS-46, the first Tethered Satellite System test flight.
Shriver later became the Deputy Director of NASA's Kennedy Space Center for Launch and Payload Processing.
Then Air-Force Lt. Col. Ellison S. Onizuka, a mission specialist, made his first flight on 51C. Onizuka was later to lose his life, as did his six crewmates, in the Challenger 51L accident a few months later.
Of the two other astronauts on 51C, then-Marine Col. James F. Buchli, another mission specialist; and then-Navy Capt. Thomas K. 'Ken' Mattingly II, the commander, Mattingly can be a difficult autograph to obtain.
(This was also Buchli's first flight. He later flew on STS-61-A, the first German spacelab; STS-29R, whose crew mostly came from the canceled after Challenger STS-61-H/Columbia mission; and STS-48, which deployed the Upper Atmosphere Research satellite.
Mattingly, in addition to flying on Apollo 13, flew on the fourth and last orbital test flight, STS-4. 51C was his last spaceflight, and he eventually rose to the rank of rear admiral.)
But I finally got Jim Lovell to sign the foreword of my "Space Shuttle: The First 20 Years" book so I can hold out hope for a Mattingly signature to add to this photo. And I'll just have to look out for Buchli making an appearance.
The STS-51-C crew originally were going to fly as STS-10, but problems with the Inertial Upper Stage booster on STS-6 forced the removal of an IUS-boosted TDRS satellite from STS-8, as well as the postponement and/or cancelation of STS-10 and 12.
The STS-10 crew, with a different payload specialist other than Payton, had been slated to fly STS-41-E (also known as STS-15.)
And finally, STS-51-C was slated to fly on Challenger, but issues with that orbiter's thermal protection system resulted in Discovery being substituted.