Jul 19 1982
From The Space Library
With the end of the four-flight orbital test program using the Shuttle Columbia, Maj. Gen. James A. Abrahamson, NASA's associate administrator for Space Transportation Systems, announced that the STS-4 mission was a success "under conditions more demanding than STS-3 conditions." He said that the test-program flights were "accomplishments of international significance" and a credit to the Shuttle development team. (NASA MOR M-989-82-04 [postflight] July 19/82)
July 20: Marine Col. Robert F. Overmyer, named as copilot with Vance D. Brand on the STS-5 flight, told a JSC preflight press conference that the mission would carry four astronauts, the largest number to fly on any U.S. spacecraft; the other two would be physicists Joseph P. Allen and William B. Lenoir, both making their first spaceflight. Overmyer said that it would take four men to launch the two communications satellites set for deployment from STS-5 over the Pacific between Hawaii and Chile.
The Shuttle's two ejection seats would be replaced with three nonejectable cockpit seats. The fourth crewman would ride in a seat installed in the mid-deck of Columbia's cabin next to the airlock leading to the cargo bay, designed for use in the first Shuttle space walk. The report said that the crew did not seem bothered to be "the first to fly the shuttle without being able to eject if the space liner is damaged during liftoff." (W Post, July 21/82, A-1)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
