Tag Archives: Franklin Story Musgrave M.D.

2 December 1993, 09:27:00 UTC, T minus Zero

Space Flight, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-61) lifts off from LC-39B, 09:27:00 UTC, 2 December 1993. (NASA)
Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-61) lifts off from LC-39B, 09:27:00 UTC, 2 December 1993. (NASA)

2 December 1993, 09:27:00 UTC, T minus Zero: Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-61) lifted off from Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida. The mission was to service the Hubble Space Telescope in Earth orbit. This was Endeavour‘s fifth flight.

The flight crew were Mission Commander Colonel Richard O. Covey, United States Air Force, on his fourth space flight, with shuttle pilot Captain Kenneth D. Bowersox, U.S. Navy, on his second flight. Mission Specialist Kathryn C. Thornton, Ph.D., on her third space flight; Professor Claude Nicollier, Captain, Schweizer Luftwaffe, (Swiss Air Force) and European Space Agency, on his second space flight; Jeffrey A. Hoffman, fourth flight, F. Story Musgrave, M.D., fifth space flight; and Thomas D. Akers, third space flight.

Flight crew of Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-61). Seated, left to right: Kenneth D. Bowersox, Kathryn C. Thornton, F. Story Musgrave, and Claude Nicollier, ESA. Rear: Richard O. Covey, Jeffrey A. Hoffman, and Thomas D. Akers. (NASA)
Flight crew of Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-61). Seated, left to right: CAPT Kenneth D. Bowersox, USN; Kathryn C. Thornton, Ph.D.,  F. Story Musgrave, M.D.; and Professor Claude Nicollier, ESA. Rear: COL Richard O. Covey, USAF, Jeffrey A. Hoffman, and Thomas D. Akers. (NASA)

During this flight there were five EVAs (“space walks”) conducted to service and upgrade Hubble. EVAs 1, 3 and 5 were performed by Musgrave and Hoffman, while 2 and 4 were carried out by Thornton and Akers. The duration of these EVAs were between 6 hours, 36 minutes and 7 hours, 54 minutes.

Endeavour landed at the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF), Kennedy Space Center, at 05:25:33 UTC, 13 December 1993. The duration of the mission was 10 days, 19 hours, 58 minutes, 37 seconds.

Mission Specialists Jeffrey A. Hoffman (bottom, right of center) and Story Musgrave, on the manipulator arm, with the Hubble Space telescope during EVA 5. (NASA)
Mission Specialists Jeffrey A. Hoffman (bottom, right of center) and Story Musgrave, on the manipulator arm, with the Hubble Space Telescope during EVA 5. (NASA)

© 2016, Bryan R. Swopes

22 November 1989

Space Flight, , , , , ,
Discovery STS-33

22 November 1989: At 7:23:29.986 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (00:23:29.986, 23 November, UTC) Space Shuttle Discovery (OV-103) lifted off from Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida, on its ninth flight, STS-33. This was the thirty-second flight of the Space Shuttle Program, and was a classified military mission.

Discovery carried a five person crew: Mission Commander, Colonel Frederick Drew Gregory, United States Air Force, and Shuttle Pilot, Colonel John Elmer Blaha, U.S.A.F., were both on their second space mission. Mission Specialist Franklin Story Musgrave, M.D., was on his third flight. Mission Specialists Captain Manley Lanier Carter, Jr., M.D., U.S. Navy, and Kathryn Ryan Cordell Thornton, Ph.D., were both on their first.

Discovery STS-33 flight crew. Front row, left to right, Dr. Kathryn Thornton, Colonel Gregory and Dr. Story Musgrave. Standing, left to right, Captain Carter and Colonel Blaha. (NASA)

Discovery initially entered an elliptical orbit, but a series of maneuvering burns were used to lift it into a circular orbit at an altitude of 280 nautical miles (322 statute miles/519 kilometers). The secret payload was launched on Discovery‘s seventh orbit and was propelled upward into a geosynchronous orbit.

After 79 orbits, Discovery landed at Edwards AFB on 27 November at 4:30:15.9 p.m., Pacific Standard Time 00:30:15.9, 28 November, UTC). The total duration of the flight was 5 days, 6 minutes, 46.014 seconds.

Discovery STS-33 touches down on Runway 4 at Edwards Air Force Base, 4:30: 00:30:15.9 p.m., PST, 27 November 1989. (Space Facts)

Discovery was carried back to KSC aboard a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, 4 December 1989.

© 2019, Bryan R. Swopes

19 November 1996, 19:55:47 UTC, T minus Zero

Space Flight, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Space Shuttle Columbia lifts off from LC 39B, 2:55;47 p.m., EST, 19 November 1996. (NASA)
Space Shuttle Columbia lifts off from LC 39B, 2:55:47 p.m. EST, 19 November 1996. (NASA)

19 November 1996, 19:55:47 UTC, T minus Zero: Space Shuttle Columbia (OV-102) lifted off from Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida, on mission STS-80. The veteran flight crew was led by mission commander, Captain Kenneth D. Cockrell, U.S. Navy,  on his third space flight, with shuttle pilot Captain Kent V. Rominger, U.S. Navy, on his second. Mission Specialist Story Musgrave, M.D., was on his sixth flight; Thomas D. Jones, Ph.D., (formerly Captain, USAF, a B-52 aircraft commander) was on his third; Tamara E. Jernigan, Ph.D. was on her fourth.

On STS-80, Story  Musgrave became the only person to have flown on all five space shuttles. At 61, he was the oldest person to have flown into space at the time.

STS-80 was the longest mission of any space shuttle flight, with a duration of 17 days, 15 hours, 53 minutes, 18 seconds. Columbia landed at the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) at Kennedy Space Center, 11:49:05 UTC, 7 December 1996.

The flight crew of Columbia STS-80, seated, left to right: Captain Kent V. Rominger, USN, and Captain Kenneth D. Cockrell, USN; standing, Tamara E. Jernigan, Ph.D.; Franklin Story Musgrave, M.D.; and Thomas D. Jones, Ph.D.. (NASA)
The flight crew of Columbia STS-80, seated, left to right: Captain Kent V. Rominger, USN, and Captain Kenneth D. Cockrell, USN; standing, Tamara E. Jernigan, Ph.D.; Franklin Story Musgrave, M.D.; and Thomas D. Jones, Ph.D. (NASA)

© 2016, Bryan R. Swopes