yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) (11/11/88)
Sarah Keegan
Headquarters, Washington, D.C. November 9, 1988
Jeffrey Carr
Johnson Space Center, Houston
RELEASE: 88-155
VETERAN ASTRONAUT BOBKO TO RETIRE FROM NASA
Col. Karol J. "Bo" Bobko (USAF) has announced plans to
retire from NASA and the U.S. Air Force on Jan. 1, 1989 after a
career which includes three Space Shuttle missions.
In April 1983, Bobko served as pilot on Shuttle mission STS-
6, the maiden voyage of the Space Shuttle Challenger, during
which the first Tracking and Data Relay Satellite was deployed
and which featured the first spacewalk of the Shuttle era.
In April 1985, Bobko served as commander of his second
mission, STS-51D, which featured the deployment of two
communications satellites and a revisit and an attempt to
activate one of those satellites which had malfunctioned.
Bobko also commanded STS-51J, the first flight of the Space
Shuttle Atlantis and the second Department of Defense Shuttle
mission, in October 1985.
An astronaut since 1970, Bobko was a member of the Skylab
medical experiments altitude test in 1972. He also served on
astronaut support crews for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975
and for the Space Shuttle approach and landing tests conducted at
Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
Bobko will be joining the Space Systems Division of Booz,
Allen & Hamilton, Inc. He will be directing their activities in
the Houston area with initial emphasis on Space Station program
support. Bobko's last day at JSC will be Nov. 30.