Michael J. Smith

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This article is about the astronaut. For other uses, see Michael Smith.

Michael J. Smith
NASA astronaut
RankCaptain, USN
SelectionNASA Group 9 (1980)
MissionsSTS-51-L (disaster)
Mission insignia

Michael John Smith (April 30, 1945 – January 28, 1986), (

feet (14.6 km),[1] killing all seven crew members. Smith's voice was the last one heard on the Challenger voice recorder.[2]

During his Naval career, Smith flew 28 different types of civilian and military aircraft and logged 4,867 hours of flying time. Following the Challenger disaster, he was promoted posthumously by Congress to the rank of

captain, and has had a chair named in his honor at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey, California
.

Early life and military career

Smith was born April 30, 1945, in Beaufort, North Carolina. He graduated from East Carteret High School in 1963 and went on to receive a Bachelor of Science degree in Naval Science from the United States Naval Academy in 1967.

Smith subsequently attended the U.S.

A-6 Intruders and completed a tour in 1972 during the Vietnam War while assigned to Attack Squadron 52 (VA-52) aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk. During his deployment with VA-52, Smith took part in Operation Linebacker
, the first continuous bombing effort conducted against North Vietnam since 1968.

After returning from Vietnam, Smith attended

VA-75), serving as a maintenance and operations officer while completing two Mediterranean cruises aboard the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga
.

During his time in the Navy, Smith flew 28 different types of civilian and military aircraft, cumulating in 4,867.7 hours of flying time.[3]

Astronaut career

Smith was selected for the astronaut program in May 1980; he served as a commander in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL), Deputy Chief of Aircraft Operations Division, Technical Assistant to the Director, Flight Operations Directorate, and was also assigned to the Astronaut Office Development and Test Group. In addition to being pilot on the Challenger, Smith had been slated to pilot a future Shuttle mission (STS-61-I) which had been scheduled for the Fall of 1986.[4] Smith's voice was the last one heard on the flight deck tape recorder aboard Challenger; his final remark was "Uh oh."[2]

Following the Challenger disaster, examination of the recovered vehicle cockpit revealed that three of the crew members' Personal Egress Air Packs were activated: those of Smith, mission specialist Judith Resnik, and mission specialist Ellison Onizuka. The location of Smith's activation switch, on the back side of his seat, means that either Resnik or Onizuka could have activated it for him. This is the only evidence available from the disaster that shows Onizuka and Resnik were alive after the cockpit separated from the vehicle. However, if the cabin had lost pressure, the packs alone would not have sustained the crew during the two-minute descent.

While analyzing the wreckage, investigators discovered that several electrical system switches on Smith's right-hand panel had been moved from their usual launch positions. Fellow Astronaut

Richard Mullane wrote, "These switches were protected with lever locks that required them to be pulled outward against a spring force before they could be moved to a new position." Later tests established that neither the force of the explosion, nor the impact with the ocean could have moved them indicating that he made the switch changes, presumably in an attempt to restore electrical power to the cockpit after the crew cabin detached from the rest of the orbiter.[5]

Recognition

Smith was posthumously awarded the

Vietnam Cross of Gallantry
with Silver Star.

The Michael J. Smith Field airfield in his home town of Beaufort, North Carolina is named after Smith.

Smith was portrayed by Brian Kerwin in the 1990 TV movie Challenger.

See also

References

  1. ^ Kerwin, Joseph P. (1986). "Challenger crew cause and time of death". Archived from the original on January 3, 2013. Retrieved July 4, 2006.
  2. ^ a b Boffey, Philip M. (July 29, 1986). "Challenger Crew Knew of Problem, Data Now Suggest". The New York Times. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
  3. ^ "MICHAEL J. SMITH (CAPTAIN, USN), NASA ASTRONAUT (DECEASED)" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
  4. ^ "STS-61-I". Archived from the original on December 28, 2016.
  5. ISBN 978-0-7432-7682-5
    .
  6. ^ "Congressional Space Medal of Honor". NASA. Retrieved June 18, 2012.

External links

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