yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) (04/22/91)
Mark Hess
Headquarters, Washington, D.C. April 19, 1991
(Phone: 202/453-4164)
Barbara Schwartz
Johnson Space Center, Houston
(Phone: 713/483-5111)
RELEASE: 91-57
SHUTTLE CREW ASSIGNMENTS ANNOUNCED
David C. Hilmer, Lt. Col., USMC, has been named mission
specialist on STS-42, the International Microgravity
Laboratory (IML-01) flight and Jerry L. Ross, Lt. Col., USAF,
has been named Payload Commander for the Spacelab D-2
mission, STS-55.
IML-01 launch is scheduled for February 1992 and
Hilmers will perform the duties previously assigned to the
late Manley L. "Sonny" Carter. "It is with regret that I have to
make this selection under these circumstances. We all miss
Sonny Carter. He was a special person and friend who can
never be replaced," Director of Flight Crew Operations Donald
R. Puddy said.
Hilmers served as a mission specialist on three Shuttle
flights, two of which were Department of Defense missions,
STS- 51J and STS-36. He was one of five crew members on
STS-26, the first flight after the Challenger accident, on
which the crew successfully deployed NASA's Tracking and
Data Relay Satellite.
STS-55, the second German Spacelab flight, is
scheduled for February 1993. As Payload Commander, Ross
will provide long-range leadership in the development and
planning of payload crew science and training activities.
Ross has flown as a mission specialist on three Shuttle
missions. On STS-61B, the crew deployed three
communications satellites and Ross performed two 6-hour
spacewalks to test Space Station construction techniques.
Mission STS-27 was a Department of Defense flight. During
STS-37, the Gamma Ray Observatory mission, Ross performed
an unscheduled spacewalk to assist in the successful
deployment of the observatory and a planned spacewalk to test
potential maneuvering devices to help crew members move
easily about the outside structure of Space Station Freedom.