Don L. Lind

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Don Lind
Don Lind
Country: United States
Organization: NASA
selected on April 4, 1966
(5th NASA Group)
Calls: 1 space flight
Begin: April 29, 1985
Landing: May 6, 1985
Time in space: 7d 0h 08m
retired on April 1986
Space flights

Don Leslie Lind (born May 18, 1930 in Midvale , Utah , USA ) is a former American astronaut .

Lind studied after graduating from high school physics and attained 1953 at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City the Bachelor title. The following year he joined the US Navy and completed three years of military service. From 1957 to 1964 he worked as a researcher in Berkeley ( California ). In 1964 he received his PhD in nuclear physics from the University of California . Until 1966 he worked in Greenbelt ( Maryland ) at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center as a space physicist.

Astronaut activity

After that, Lind was an astronaut at the Johnson Space Center in Houston , where he initially worked in the astronaut office. In 1975/76 he worked as a post-doctoral student at the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska in Fairbanks . In 1985 he took part in his first and only space flight ( STS-51-B ). After his astronaut career, he was a physics professor at Utah State University in Logan from 1986 to 1995 .

Reserve crew for Skylab

Lind received his first assignment to a space flight in January 1972, when he was nominated for the replacement crew of Skylab 3 and Skylab 4 together with Commander Vance Brand and science astronaut William Lenoir .

During the second Skylab mission, Skylab 3, problems occurred with two of the four control engine systems (quads) of the Apollo spacecraft. Although the spaceship was still fully controllable with two quads, there was a risk that the two defects would be connected and the other two quads would also fail, which would make a return to earth impossible. Under normal circumstances the mission would have been canceled. But because there was the possibility of a rescue flight, the problem could be analyzed in peace. At the same time, however, the preparations for the rescue flight were in full swing. Work on the launch pad, rocket and spacecraft ran around the clock from August 3, 1973. A start on September 9th would have been possible. The crew for this rescue flight were Commander Brand and Pilot Lind, because they formed the backup team for Skylab 3 together with the science astronaut Lenoir. It turned out that the two problems on the control thrusters were independent and the other two quad systems were not affected. From August 13, 1973, the normal pace was resumed, so that a start would still be possible on September 25. From September 10, 1973, the spaceship was kept in a condition that would have allowed a launch within the next nine days. With the splashdown of Skylab 3 on September 25, the start date was set again on November 10, 1973. The problem was solved, the rescue crew was not used.

STS-51-B

On April 29, 1985, the mission started from the Kennedy Space Center . Lind was a mission specialist and looked after the Spacelab with the other six team members . Biological, geophysical and fluid physics as well as material science experiments were carried out. The science satellite NUSAT was also suspended. The planned deployment of the GLOMR military satellite could not be carried out. On May 6, the landing took place at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

At the time of the launch, Lind was 54 years old and, after his fellow missionary William Thornton, the second oldest spaceman to date. He was also the oldest newcomer to space to date, but this record was beaten by Karl Henize that same year .

Private

Lind is married and has seven children.

Web links

Commons : Don L. Lind  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files