NASA

This astronaut gave their life in the pursuit of space exploration.

Memorial

This astronaut crossed the Kármán Line (100 km), the internationally accepted boundary of space.

Crossed Kármán Line

Selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in January 1978, she completed a one-year training and evaluation period in August 1979. Dr. Resnik worked on various projects supporting Orbiter development, including experiment software, the Remote Manipulator System (RMS), and training techniques. Dr. Resnik first flew as a mission specialist on STS-41-D, which launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on August 30, 1984. She was accompanied by spacecraft commander Hank Hartsfield, pilot Mike Coats, fellow mission specialists Steve Hawley and Mike Mullane, and payload specialist Charlie Walker. This was the maiden flight of the orbiter 

. During this seven-day mission, the crew successfully activated the OAST-1 solar cell wing experiment, deployed three satellites (SBS-D, SYNCOM IV-2, and TELSTAR 3-C), and operated several experiments, including the CFES-III experiment, the student crystal growth experiment, and photography experiments using the IMAX motion picture camera. The crew earned the nickname "Icebusters" for successfully removing hazardous ice particles from the orbiter using the Remote Manipulator System. STS-41-D completed 96 orbits of Earth before landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on September 5, 1984. With the completion of this flight, she logged 144 hours and 57 minutes in space. Dr. Resnik was a mission specialist on STS-51-L, which launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, at 11:38:00 EST on January 28, 1986. The crew aboard the Orbiter 

 included spacecraft commander F.R. Scobee, pilot Commander M.J. Smith (USN), fellow mission specialists Dr. R.E. McNair and Lieutenant Colonel E.S. Onizuka (USAF), and two civilian payload specialists, G.B. Jarvis and S.C. McAuliffe. Tragically, the STS-51-L crew died on January 28, 1986, when 

 exploded shortly after launch. Courtesy of NASA.

STS-51-L (Challenger)

The 25th flight of the Space Shuttle launched to deploy the second TDRS satellite for NASA, conduct "Teacher In Space" lessons, observe Halley's Comet, and carry out biomedical experiments. This was the 10th and final flight of Space Shuttle Challenger and marked the last time civilians (who were not members of the Astronaut Corps) flew on a NASA rocket. Launched in near-freezing conditions after a devastating temperature drop overnight, both O-ring seals between the two Solid Rocket Booster segments failed at the instant of launch. A temporary seal was formed by O-ring debris but was knocked loose when Challenger encountered upper level wind shear greater than she should have been launch into. The broken seal allowed hot gasses to escape the rocket booster and destroy the base of the External Tank. Challenger was ripped apart by aerodynamic forces 73 seconds after launch as the External Tank failed. Contrary to public memory, Challenger did not explode. All seven crewmembers lost their lives in what is still considered the worst spaceflight accident in history. It is the only fatal space accident that was broadcast live on TV. Over her short, three year career, Challenger spent a total of 62 days in space, travelled 41,527,414 km, and carried 60 cremembers.

The first reusable launch and landing spacecraft, the Space Shuttle began a new chapter of human space exploration. It launched like a rocket but landed on a runway like a plane. Shuttle crews deployed dozens of commercial satellites and two interplanetary probes to Venus and Jupiter. The Shuttle served as a mini space station and hosted hundreds of biomedical, psychological, physiological, materials science, and physics experiments that have directly benefited life on Earth. The five flight-worthy Shuttles -- Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour -- flew 135 missions over 30 years. The Shuttles helped construct the Russian Mir space station and brought nearly 80% of the International Space Station to orbit. Shuttles also deployed and serviced the Hubble Space Telescope.

Space Shuttle

STS-41-D (Discovery)

The maiden voyage of the Space Shuttle Discovery. A June 26th launch attempt ended at T-6.4 seconds after two of the three Shuttle main engines had started to ignite. The pad abort triggered a hydrogen fire under Discovery, damaging the Space Shuttle. The abort led to major improvements in Shuttle abort safety guidelines and procedures and forced a two month delay to the flight, during which NASA cancelled STS-41-F and transferred its payload to this mission. After launch, the crew deployed three communications satellites for the U.S. (2) and Canada (1) and tested solar array technology. The flight marked the first time a company commercially sponsored an employee to fly on the Space Shuttle to perform one of its experiments.

Judith A. Resnik

United States of America

STS-4 (Columbia)

The final test flight of the Space Shuttle program. It was the final time NASA assigned a complete backup crew for their missions until the International Space Station program. Columbia finished proving the Shuttle's capabilities on this flight, allowing NASA to declare the Shuttle "operational." Columbia landed on July 4th, after which President Reagan greeted the crew and Columbia's sister Shuttle, the newly completed Challenger, performed a ceremonial flyover while mounted to the back of a 747 aircraft.

STS-61-A (Challenger)

A Space Shuttle mission funded completely by West Germany. This marked the first time payload operations on a U.S. mission were not conducted from NASA centers but from West Germany instead. Challenger flew with the Spacelab module, containing 76 scientific experiments. With eight crewmembers, this mission holds the record for "most people on a single spacecraft for launch and landing."

Henry W. Hartsfield Jr.

STS-41-B (Challenger)

During this flight, Challenger deployed two communications satellites for Western Union and Indonesia, and McCandless became the first person to perform a free-flying, untethered spacewalk. Challenger conducted the first Space Shuttle landing at the Kennedy Space Center and was the first Shuttle flight to use the new numbering scheme. Since the Shuttle was supposed to launch from both Florida and California, NASA switched to STS-41-B numbering scheme where the first number after "STS-" was the fiscal year of the program the mission was to fly in; the second number was either a "1" for Kennedy or a "2" for Vandenberg Air Force Base, California; and the "-letter" was the order the missions for a particular fiscal year and launch site were originally planned in. Thus, STS-41-B was the second planned launch from the Kennedy Space Center in the fourth year of the program.

Ronald E. McNair

STS-41-C (Challenger)

The mission deployed the Long Duration Exposure Facility (carrying 57 science experiments) and then rendezvoused with, captured, repaired, and re-released the Solar Max satellite, marking the first-ever in-space repair of an already-launched satellite.

Francis R. "Dick" Scobee

STS-29 (Discovery)

This mission deployed the fourth NASA TDRS satellite and conducted a variety of experiments.

STS-39 (Discovery)

This was the first unclassified mission for the Department of Defense and saw the crew operate and perform numerous external and internal scientific experiments.

Michael L. Coats

This astronaut has spent over a month in space.

Space Resident

STS-36 (Atlantis)

Classified Department of Defense mission. This mission holds the record for highest orbital inclination ever achieved by a U.S. human spaceflight at 62 degrees.

STS-27 (Atlantis)

This Atlantis mission almost didn't make it back to Earth. During launch, debris from the Solid Rocket Booster critically damaged 700 of Atlantis' heat shield tiles, nearly leading to a burn-up and the loss of Atlantis and her seven-member crew during reentry and landing. The classified nature of the mission prevented NASA from doing extensive damage assessment during orbit.

Richard M. Mullane

STS-61-C (Columbia)

Space Shuttle Columbia returned to service after a major overhaul and upgrade with this mission. The crew included U.S. Congressman Bill Nelson of Florida. The flight deployed Satcom K1, which would prove to be the last commercial communications satellite launched by the Shuttle. It was the last successful human spaceflight before the Challenger Disaster. This mission was retroactively called "The End of Innocence" by its Commander.

STS-82 (Discovery)

The second Hubble Space Telescope upgrade mission. Discovery's crew improved Hubble's instruments and boosted its altitude to 620 km, the farthest from Earth a Space Shuttle ever traveled.

STS-31 (Discovery)

On this mission NASA launched a window to our past: the Hubble Space Telescope. Discovery's crew deployed the immense telescope on April 25th, 1990.

STS-93 (Columbia)

On the first U.S. spaceflight commanded by a woman, Columbia's five-person crew successfully deployed the Chandra X-Ray Observatory.

Steven A. Hawley

STS-51-D (Discovery)

This mission deployed a Canadian communications satellite and tried to deploy a U.S. satellite, but an issue forced an unscheduled spacewalk to try to manually start the satellite's post-deployment sequence. The crew eventually had to bring the satellite back to Earth for repair. During landing Discovery blew a tire, leading NASA to suspend all Florida Space Shuttle landings until nose gear steering and improved braking could be added.

STS-61-B (Atlantis)

Mexico

This mission deployed three satellites for Australia, Mexico, and the U.S., and took the first Mexican citizen to space. Two spacewalks proved assembling large, pre-formed structures in space was possible, though their shape was crucial -- a key to the eventual construction of the International Space Station. At launch, this became the fastest turnaround between flights of any rocket or spacecraft to date; Atlantis launched for a second time just 54 days after her first mission.

Charles D. Walker

STS-51-C (Discovery)

The first classified Department of Defense Space Shuttle mission. Discovery was launched at or near the minimum air temperature the Solid Rocket Boosters were certified for at the time. After launch, it was discovered that a significant anomaly with all the O-ring seals on both Solid Rocket Boosters had occurred. All O-rings were found to be burned. In one place, the hot gasses from the rocket boosters had burned completely through the primary O-ring and nearly burned through the secondary seal -- which would have caused a Challenger-like failure. Morton Thiokol (who built the solid rockets) and NASA upper management both dismissed concerns raised by this finding. The Space Shuttle kept flying.

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