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William A. Pailes

American - (USAF)

Retired

Date of Birth: June 26, 1952
Age: 72


William Arthur Pailes (Colonel, USAF) (born June 26, 1952) was a USAF astronaut in the Manned Spaceflight Engineer Program during the mid-1980s. He served as a Payload Specialist on STS-51-J Atlantis (October 3–7, 1985).

Space Shuttle Atlantis / OV-104 | STS-51-J

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
Oct. 3, 1985, 3:15 p.m.
Status: Success
Mission:

STS-51-J was the twenty-first space shuttle mission and the maiden flight of the Space Shuttle Atlantis. It was the second mission dedicated to deploying a Department of Defence payload. It was a classified mission however we do know that it deployed two 10 satellites.

Low Earth Orbit
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Commander-in-Chief: President of the US

The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal Corps, the USAF was established as a separate branch of the United States Armed Forces in 1947 with the enactment of the National Security Act of 1947.


Falcon 9
Success
1 day, 21 hours ago
SpainSat NG I
Launch Complex 39A - Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

First of two new-generation satellites built by Airbus to provide secure communications to the Spanish government, its allies, and various internatio…


GSLV Mk II
Success
2 days, 21 hours ago
IRNSS-1K (NVS-02)
Satish Dhawan Space Centre Second Launch Pad - Satish Dhawan Space Centre, India

This is a replacement satellite for the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System. The constellation will provide India with an alternative to GPS …


Falcon 9
Success
4 days ago
Starlink Group 12-7
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

A batch of 21 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Falcon 9
Success
1 week ago
Starlink Group 11-6
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 23 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Long March 3
Success
1 week, 1 day ago
TJSW-14
Launch Complex 2 (LC-2) - Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Chinese classified satellite claimed to be for communication technology test purposes. Actual mission not known.