Norman Thagard
- STS -7 ( 1983)
- STS 51 -B ( 1985)
- STS -30 ( 1989)
- STS -42 ( 1992)
- Mir EO -18 Soyuz TM-21/STS-71 (1995 )
Norman Earl Thagard ( born July 3, 1943 in Marianna, Florida, United States) is a former American astronaut. He is the first American who flew into space on a Russian spaceship.
Thagard attended Paxon Senior High School in Jacksonville (Florida ). In 1965, he received a Bachelor and a Masters in Engineering in 1966, both from Florida State University. In 1977 he was awarded a doctorate in medicine from the University of Texas.
In 1966, Thagard the United States Marine Corps and was trained there to naval aviation. During the Vietnam War, he flew 163 combat missions.
Astronauts activity
In January 1978, Thagard was selected by NASA as an astronaut candidate and then trained as mission specialists.
STS -7
On June 18, 1983 aboard the space shuttle Challenger Thagard for his first flight into space. It was the first mission with a crew of five. During the six-day flight, the satellite ANIK C-2 and PALAPA B-1 were exposed. It was also the first time with the robot arm ( RMS), the research platform SPAS -01 exposed and captured again. STS -7 was the first flight of an American woman ( Sally Ride) into space.
STS -51- B
On 29 April 1985 Thagard flew again with the Challenger space shuttle into space. The payload of the mission consisted of the Spacelab the European Space Agency ( ESA). Were carried 15 experiments, especially for the study of fluids and materials in weightless space. For biological studies also were two monkeys and 24 rodents on board. 14 experiments were successfully carried out. In addition, the scientific satellite NUSAT was suspended.
STS -61- G
STS -61- G would have been a mission of the Space Shuttle Atlantis in May 1986, but was canceled after the Challenger disaster. The Galileo spacecraft would have to be brought into space. As the occupying David Walker, Ronald Grabe, Norman Thagard and James van Hoften were planned.
STS -30
On May 4, 1989 Thagard flew aboard the space shuttle Atlantis into space. Payload was the Venus probe Magellan, which was accelerated in the direction of Venus with an IUS upper stage. STS -30 was the first mission in the space shuttle was used to launch an interplanetary spacecraft.
STS -42
On 22 January 1992 Thagard launched as a payload commander of Discovery into space. In the payload bay of the Space Shuttle there was the Microgravity Laboratory IML -1. The Spacelab module contained experiments to explore the complex effects of weightlessness on living organisms and other materials. In order to conduct experiments around the clock, the crew worked in shifts. Thagard formed, along with the astronauts grave, Oswald and Bondar the blue team, while Hilmer, Readdy and the German Ulf Merbold were the red team.
Stay on Mir
On March 14, 1995, Thagard TM -21 made on board the Russian Soyuz spacecraft on the way to the Mir space station. There he was a member of the 18th resident crew (MIR EO -18) Mir. 28 experiments were carried out during his 115 - day stay in space. On 7 July 1995 Thagard landed with the Space Shuttle Atlantis ( STS -71) on the Kennedy Space Center.
Private
Norman Thagard and his wife have three sons Rex Kirby.