First in space with Spacelab

November 28, 7:24 PMSpace Education ExaminerBarbara Malone

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                Launch of STS 9 on November 28, 1983 Photo credit NASA

The flight of STS-9

On November 28, 1983, the crew of STS-9, the first single vehicle to carry six astronauts into space, carried with them the Spacelab floating laboratory.

Dedicated entirely to Spacelab l, a joint NASA/European Space Agency program devised to demonstrate astronauts' ability to conduct scientific research in space, the crew of STS-9 worked alongside payload specialists, coordinating their efforts with scientists at the Marshall Payload Operations Control.

The crew of STS-9

 Owen K. Garriott

Born November 22, 1930 in Enid, Oklahoma
BS of science in electrical engineering, University of Oklahoma
MS and doctorate of philosophy in electrical engineering, Stanford University
Flew on Skylab 3 and STS-9
 

Byron K. Lichtenberg

(Payload specialist)
Born February 19, 1948 in Stroudsburg, PA
Sc.D., biomedical engineering, MIT S.M., mechanical engineering, MIT
Sc.B., aerospace engineering, Brown University
First Payload specialist
Flew on Spacelab-1 (STS-9) and ATLAS-1 (STS-45) Spacelab mission
 

Ulf Merbold

Astronaut, European Space Agency
Born June 20, 1941, in Greiz, Germany
Graduated from Stuttgart University in 1968, with a diploma in physics
In 1976, he received a Doctorate in science
Flew on STS-9, becoming first non-American to fly on a Space Shuttle mission
Payload Specialist on STS-42
 

Robert Allan Ridley Parker

Born December 14, 1936, in New York City, NY
BA in astronomy and physics from Amherst College;
Doctorate of philosophy in astronomy from California Institute of Technology
Flew on STS-9 and STS-35.

Brewster H. Shaw

Born May 16, 1945, in Cass City, Michigan
BS and MS in engineering mechanics from University of Wisconsin
Flew on STS-9, STS 61-B, and STS-28.

John W. Young
 

Born September 24, 1930, in San Francisco, California
BS in aeronautical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology
Flew on Gemini 3, Gemini 10, Apollo 10, Apollo 16, STS-1 and STS-9
 

Spacelab installed in the cargo bay of the Space Shuttle before Spacelab's first flight

Astronauts John W. Young and payload specialist Ulf Merbold eat in the middeck of Columbia.

Mission specialist Owen K. Garriott, left, drew blood from Byron K. Lichtenberg, and connected him to a portable oscilloscope (at left). Lichtenberg wore a band around his head, and stayed connected to a recording device during his waking hours to learn more about space adaptation.

For more information, visit:

Kennedy Space Center STS 9

Six flights of John Young