Richard N. Richards

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Dick Richards
NASA astronaut
RankCaptain, USN
Time in space
33d 21h 29m
SelectionNASA Group 9 (1980)
MissionsSTS-28
STS-41
STS-50
STS-64
Mission insignia
RetirementApril 1995

Richard Noel "Dick" Richards (born August 24, 1946), (

aviator, test pilot, chemical engineer, and a former NASA astronaut. He flew aboard four Space Shuttle
missions in the 1980s and 1990s.

Early life and education

He was born on August 24, 1946, in

St. Louis, Missouri, in 1964. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Missouri in 1969, and a Master of Science degree in aeronautical systems from the University of West Florida in 1970. While at the University of Missouri, he became a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity.[1]

Military service

Richards was commissioned as an

F/A-18A Hornet airplane, he made the first shipboard catapults and arrested landings during Initial Sea Trials of the F/A-18A on board USS America in 1979. He was reassigned to Fighter Squadron 33 (VF-33) in May 1980 and was en route
to that assignment when notified of his selection as an astronaut candidate.

NASA career

Selected as an astronaut candidate by

STS-51F, passing up the "Abort ATO" call when Challenger's centre engine went down.[2]
Richards flew on four missions:
Astronaut Office, and was assigned to the Space Shuttle Program Office at the Johnson Space Center. He was designated as the Mission Director/Manager for the second Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Space Shuttle Mission (STS-82), and Mission Manager for the second Tethered Satellite System Space Shuttle mission (STS-75
).

Spaceflight experience

Main article: STS-28

On his first space flight, Richards was pilot on the crew of STS-28 aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia, which launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on August 8, 1989. The mission carried Department of Defense payloads and a number of secondary payloads. After 80 orbits of the Earth, this five-day mission concluded with a dry lakebed landing on Runway 17 at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on August 13, 1989. Mission duration was 121 hours 9 seconds.[3]

Main article: STS-41

Slightly more than one year later, Richards commanded the crew of STS-41. The five-man crew launched aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery on October 6 from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, and landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on October 10, 1990. During 66 orbits of the Earth, the STS-41 crew successfully deployed the Ulysses spacecraft, starting this interplanetary probe on its four-year journey, via Jupiter, to investigate the polar regions of the Sun.[3]

Main article: STS-50

In June 1992, Richards commanded the crew of STS-50 aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia. STS-50 was the first flight of the United States Microgravity Laboratory and the first extended duration Orbiter flight. Over a two-week period, the STS-50 flight crew conducted a wide variety of experiments relating to materials processing and fluid physics in a microgravity environment. At that time this was the longest Space Shuttle flight in history.[3]

Main article: STS-64

In September 1994, Richards commanded the

corona studies; robotic processing of semiconductors; maneuvered the robotic arm in proximity to over 100 Shuttle reaction control system jet firings to measure forces imparted to a plume detection instrument in support of future Space Station/Shuttle rendezvous flights; first untethered spacewalk in 10 years to test a self-rescue jetpack. Mission duration was 10 days, 22 hours, 51 minutes.[3]

Post-NASA career

In August 1998, Richards left NASA to join the

Boeing Company
. Between 1998 and 2007 he supported NASA via Boeing's Space Shuttle Sustaining Engineering Support Contract. Boeing has over 1,000 employees across the United States involved with Space Shuttle flight operations. In 2007, Richards retired from Boeing as the Deputy Program Manager for Space Shuttle, and now lives in Houston, Texas.

Awards and honors

References

  1. ^ "Celect".
  2. ^ Welch, Brian (August 9, 1985). "Limits to inhibit" (PDF). Space News Roundup. Houston, TX: NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. pp. 1, 3. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d "RICHARD (DICK) N. RICHARDS (CAPTAIN, USN, RET.), NASA ASTRONAUT (FORMER)" (PDF). NASA. July 2007. Retrieved May 15, 2021.

External links

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