Tag Archives: Robert A.R. Parker

2 December 1990, 06:49:01 UTC, T minus Zero

Space Flight, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-35) lifts of from LC-39B, Kennedy Space Center, 06:49:00 UTC, 2 December 1990. (NASA)
Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-35) lifts off from LC-39B, Kennedy Space Center, 06:49:00 UTC, 2 December 1990. (NASA)

2 December 1990, 06:49:01 UTC: At 1:49:01 a.m. EST, Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-35) lifted off from Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida. This was Columbia‘s 10th flight. STS-35 was a scientific mission, with the ASTRO-1 observatory.

The flight crew consisted of Mission Commander Vance D. Brand on his fourth and final space flight, and shuttle pilot Colonel Guy S. Gardner, U.S. Air Force, on his second. There were three Mission Specialists and two Payload Specialists: Jeffrey A. Hoffman, Ph.D., second space flight; John M. Lounge, third flight; Robert A.R. Parker, Ph.D., second flight; Samuel T. Durance, Ph.D., and Ronald A. Parise, Ph.D., were both on their first flights.

Flight crew of Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-35), left to right: Robert A.Parker, Guy S. Gardner, Ronald A. Parise, Vance D. Brand, Jeffrey A. Hoffman, John M. Lounge and Samuel T. Durrance. (NASA)
Flight crew of Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-35), left to right: Robert A.Parker, Guy S. Gardner, Ronald A. Parise, Vance D. Brand, Jeffrey A. Hoffman, John M. Lounge and Samuel T. Durrance. (NASA)

Columbia landed at Edwards Air Force Base in the high desert of southern California at 05:54:08 UTC, 11 December 1990. The duration of the mission was 8 days, 23 hours, 5 minutes, 8 seconds.

Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-35) lands at Edwards Air Force Base, California, 9:54 p.m. PST, 11 December 1990. (NASA)

© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes

28 November 1983, 16:00:00.84 UTC

Space Flight, , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-9) launches from LC-39A, Kennedy Space center, 16:00:00 UTC, 28 November 1983. (NASA)
Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-9) launches from LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, 16:00:00 UTC, 28 November 1983. (NASA)

28 November 1983, 16:00:00.84 UTC, T minus Zero: Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-9) lifted of from Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Florida on its sixth space flight.

On board was the largest flight crew for a manned space mission up to that time:  Mission Commander John W. Young (Captain, United States Navy, Retired), Pilot; Lieutenant Colonel Brewster H. Shaw, Jr., United States Air Force; Mission Specialists Owen K. Garriott, Ph.D., and Robert A.R. Parker, Ph.D.; and Payload Specialists Ulf Dietrich Merbold, Dr. rer. nat, of the European Space Agency (ESA); and Lieutenant Colonel Byron K. Lichtenberg, D.Sc., USAF (Massachusetts Air National Guard).

The flight crew of Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-9), left to right, Owen K. Garriott, Ph.D., NASA; LCOL Byron K. Lichtenberg, D.Sc., USAF; LCOL Brewster H. Shaw, Jr., USAF; CAPT John Watts Young, USN (Ret.); Dr. Ulf D. Merbold, ESA; Robert A.R. Parker, Ph.D., NASA.
The flight crew of Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-9), left to right, Owen K. Garriott, Ph.D., NASA; LCOL Byron K. Lichtenberg, D.Sc., USAF; LCOL Brewster H. Shaw, Jr., USAF; CAPT John Watts Young, USN (Ret.); Dr. Ulf D. Merbold, ESA; Robert A.R. Parker, Ph.D., NASA.

Columbia carried the NASA/ESA Spacelab module in the cargo bay. The mission was primarily to carry out 72 scientific experiments in astronomy, physics, biology, as well as to make observations of the Earth.

Columbia landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California at 23:47:24 UTC (3:47 p.m., PST), 8 December 1983. At 10 days, 7 hours, 47 minutes, 24 seconds, STS-9 was the longest space shuttle mission up to that time.

Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-9) lands at Edwards Air Force Base, California. (NASA)

© 2016, Bryan R. Swopes