Michael J. Smith
American - (NASA)
Lost In Flight
Date of Birth: April 30, 1945
Date of Death: Jan. 28, 1986
Michael John Smith was an American astronaut—pilot of the Space Shuttle Challenger when it was destroyed during the STS-51-L mission. All seven crew members died.
Space Shuttle Challenger / OV-099 | STS-51-L
National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of AmericaKennedy Space Center, FL, USA
Jan. 28, 1986, 4:38 p.m.
Status: Failure
Mission:
The tenth mission for Challenger, STS-51-L was scheduled to deploy the second in a series of Tracking and Data Relay Satellites, carry out the first flight of the Shuttle-Pointed Tool for Astronomy (SPARTAN-203) / Halley's Comet Experiment Deployable in order to observe Halley's Comet, and carry out several lessons from space as part of the Teacher in Space Project and Shuttle Student Involvement Program (SSIP).
Low Earth OrbitThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. NASA have many launch facilities but most are inactive. The most commonly used pad will be LC-39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Falcon 9
NROL-105
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USATwelfth batch of satellites for a reconnaissance satellite constellation built by SpaceX and Northrop Grumman for the National Reconnaissance Office …
Ceres-2
Demo Flight
Launch Area 95A - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of ChinaFirst test launch of Galactic Energy’s Ceres-2 rocket.
Long March 3B/E
Shijian 32
Launch Complex 2 (LC-2) - Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of ChinaChinese experimental spacecraft of unknown purposes.
Ceres-1S
Tianqi 37-40
Rizhao offshore launch location - Haiyang Oriental Spaceport4 small satellites for LEO Internet of Things (IoT) communication purposes.
Long March 2C
AlSat 3A
Launch Area 94 (SLS-2 / 603) - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of ChinaEarth observation satellite built by China's CAST for the Algerian Space Agency.
