Riding Rockets Part 20

SEAL-Sea, Air, Land. An acronym for an elite navy force that is trained for special covert operations against the enemy.

Sim Sup-Simulator Supervisor. The team leader who prepares scripts of malfunctions to train astronauts and MCC controllers. The Sim Sup's team inputs malfunctions and evaluates the response of astronauts and the MCC to simulated emergencies.

SLF-Shuttle Landing Facility. The 15,000-foot-long runway at Kennedy s.p.a.ce Center used by landing shuttles.

SMS-Shuttle Mission Simulator. The primary simulators at Johnson s.p.a.ce Center for training astronauts to operate the shuttle systems and respond to emergencies.

SRB-Solid Rocket Booster. Twin boosters attached to the sides of the external gas tank. The term "solid" in the t.i.tle refers to the propellant, which has the consistency of hard rubber.

SSME-s.p.a.ce Shuttle Main Engine. A liquid-fueled engine at the back of the orbiter that burns the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen carried in the external gas tank. There are three SSMEs at the tail of the orbiter.

STA-Shuttle Training Aircraft. A Gulfstream business jet modified to have the landing characteristics of a shuttle. Pilot astronauts (CDRs and PLTs) train for shuttle landings in the STA.

STS-s.p.a.ce Transportation System. A fancy name for what the public would call the s.p.a.ce shuttle. The STS is made up of the winged vehicle (the orbiter), the solid-fueled rocket boosters, and the external gas tank.

TAL-Trans-Atlantic Landing abort. A launch abort in which the shuttle makes an emergency landing at an airport in Europe or Africa.

TDRS-Tracking and Data Relay Satellite. A satellite used by NASA to relay commands, data, and astronaut voice communication between the orbiter and MCC.

TFNG-Thirty-Five New Guys. The nickname adopted by the astronaut cla.s.s of 1978. The name is a play on an obscene military acronym FNG (F***ing New Guy), used to describe someone new to a military unit.

THC-Translational Hand Controller. A square-shaped controller that can be moved in or out, up or down, and left or right. These control inputs will produce the corresponding movement at the tip of the robot arm. The CDR and PLT also have THCs that will fire the orbiter's thrusters to move it in the direction commanded.

UCD-Urine Collection Device. A condom/nylon bladder arrangement or an adult diaper worn by astronauts on the three occasions when they cannot use the shuttle toilet: launch, s.p.a.cewalks, and reentry/landing.

UHF-Ultra-High Frequency. A radio frequency.

USAF-United States Air Force.

USMC-United States Marine Corps.

USN-United States Navy.

VAB-Vertical a.s.sembly Building. The 500-foot-high building originally used to prepare theSaturn V moon rockets. The shuttle stack is completed in the VAB before being transported to the launchpad. moon rockets. The shuttle stack is completed in the VAB before being transported to the launchpad.

VFR-Visual Flight Rules. An aviation term referring to flights where the pilot is responsible for his/her own clearance from other aircraft and objects.

VITT-Vehicle Integration Test Team. The team at Kennedy s.p.a.ce Center that supports the checkout of the orbiters as they are prepared for a mission.

WETF-Weightless Environment Training Facility. A large swimming pool used by astronauts to train for s.p.a.cewalks.

WSO-Weapons Systems Operator. The air force crewmember (usually in two-place fighters like the F-4 or F-111) who is responsible for navigation, electronic warfare, and weapons status. WSO is used interchangeably with GIB (guy-in-back).

I was a child of the s.p.a.ce race-twelve years old at the time of Sputnik I's launch, October 4, 1957. I wanted to be an astronaut from the moment I heard the word.

The Hugh Mullane family in Albuquerque, New Mexico, circa 1960. I'm second from the left. My dad was rendered a paraplegic at age thirty-three by polio. His leg braces are visible at his atrophied ankles.

At about age sixteen, I'm posed with one of my homemade rockets. My "capsule" was a coffee can; the nose cone was a rolled-up sheet of plastic. My mom and dad were huge supporters of my interest in s.p.a.ce. After taking this photo, my dad drove me into the desert for the launch.

Donna and I walk out of the Kirtland AFB chapel, June 14, 1967. We both married for the wrong reasons-me for s.e.x, she for escape from her parents. Somewhere in our marriage (thirty-eight years and counting), we fell in love. We would have three children, who would give us six grandchildren.

In 1969, I flew 134 combat missions in Vietnam in the backseat of the RF-4C, the reconnaissance version of the F-4 Phantom. My flawed eyesight prevented me from being a fighter pilot.

George Abbey, a midlevel bureaucrat, was G.o.d to the astronaut corps. He had supreme authority over shuttle mission a.s.signments. Morale suffered significantly under his despotic and secretive leadership style, and many astronauts came to loathe him.

Judy Resnik, the second American woman in s.p.a.ce, helps me prepare for a s.p.a.cewalk simulation in early 1984. In our year of training for our rookie mission, STS-41D, we became close friends. Judy opened my male, s.e.xist-pig eyes to the reality that women could do the astronaut job as well as any man. She would die aboardChallenger while flying her second s.p.a.ce mission. while flying her second s.p.a.ce mission.

The heartrending final astronaut-spouse good-byes occur approximately twenty-four hours prior to launch at the astronaut beach house. For theChallenger and andColumbia spouses, the good-byes were forever. The beach house sits on sacred ground. spouses, the good-byes were forever. The beach house sits on sacred ground.

Donna and I sought the privacy of the beach house sands for our farewells. Before all of my missions, I told her, "If I die tomorrow, I died doing what I loved."

Donna slumps in emotional and physical exhaustion after one of my many mission scrubs. At T9 minutes in the countdown, spouses and children are escorted to the roof of the Launch Control Center to watch the liftoff in the company of an astronaut family escort, aka "an escort into widowhood."

The STS-41D in-orbit crew self-portrait. I'm floating at the left (legs extended). At the bottom, from right to left, are Pilot Mike Coats and Commander Hank Hartsfield. At Judy Resnik's left side is Mission Specialist Steve Hawley. Payload Specialist Charlie Walker floats behind me. Judy received hate mail from a handful of feminists for the cheerleader effect the pose suggested.

A lifetime dream comes true-floating in Discovery's upper c.o.c.kpit on my rookie mission, STS-41D, August 30September 5, 1984.

Donna greets me after landing at Edwards AFB from my first mission, September 5, 1984. Mission Commander Hank Hartsfield and his wife, Fran, are in the background.

Located a few blocks from the Johnson s.p.a.ce Center main gate, the decrepit Outpost Tavern is a popular astronaut hangout.

Challenger's forward fuselage(arrow) was part of the breakup debris, January 28, 1986. The fact that some c.o.c.kpit switches were found in the wreckage in emergency positions proves that the crew was alive and functioning for at least some period after vehicle destruction. But escape was impossible. The s.p.a.ce shuttle had no bailout system. was part of the breakup debris, January 28, 1986. The fact that some c.o.c.kpit switches were found in the wreckage in emergency positions proves that the crew was alive and functioning for at least some period after vehicle destruction. But escape was impossible. The s.p.a.ce shuttle had no bailout system.

The STS-27 Swine Flight crew after arriving at the Kennedy s.p.a.ce Center for our December 26, 1988, mission.From left to right: Mission Specialist Jerry Ross and Pilot Guy Gardner. I'm standing in the middle. To my immediate left is Mission Specialist Bill Shepherd. Robert "Hoot" Gibson, the commander, is at the microphone. Mission Specialist Jerry Ross and Pilot Guy Gardner. I'm standing in the middle. To my immediate left is Mission Specialist Bill Shepherd. Robert "Hoot" Gibson, the commander, is at the microphone.

Viewing the severe heat-shield damage sustained during our STS-27 launch. The tip of the right side SRB broke off during ascent and damaged seven hundred belly heat tiles, by far the worst shuttle heat-shield damage sustained prior to theColumbia tragedy. I'm leaning around Pilot Guy Gardner. tragedy. I'm leaning around Pilot Guy Gardner.

Christie Brinkley is all smiles while standing next to me at a Super Bowl XXIII halftime photo-op, January 22, 1989. Bill Shepherd is at my right. Guy Gardner stands on Christie's left side. No doubt it was meeting me that doomed her marriage to Billy Joel...or so I tell everybody.

My family at the astronaut beach house in late February 1990, prior to my last mission, STS-36. Donna and I stand in the middle. My mom and our youngest daughter, Laura, stand at my right. Our twins, Patrick and Amy, stand at Donna's left. My dad pa.s.sed away in 1988.

On the drive back from an STS-36 launch scrub, I hold my pressure-suit neck ring open for a flow of cooling air to escape. I forced the smile. Mission scrubs were always a crushing disappointment...and I had six of them.

The STS-36 (February 28March 4, 1990) in-s.p.a.ce crew photo.From left to right: Commander John "J.O." Creighton and Mission Specialist Dave Hilmers. I'm floating in the middle. Next are Mission Specialist Pierre "Pepe" Thuot and Pilot John Casper. Commander John "J.O." Creighton and Mission Specialist Dave Hilmers. I'm floating in the middle. Next are Mission Specialist Pierre "Pepe" Thuot and Pilot John Casper.

Donna and I meet the Bushes in the Oval Office, May 1990. While leading us on a tour of the White House, Mrs. Bush displayed a hilarious one-of-the-guys sense of humor.