Karol J. Bobko

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Karol J. Bobko
Karol J. Bobko
Country: United States
Organization: NASA
selected on June 30, 1966
( 2nd MOL group )
August 14, 1969
( 7th NASA group )
Calls: 3 space flights
Start of the
first space flight:
April 4th 1983
Landing of the
last space flight:
October 7, 1985
Time in space: 16d 2h 03min
retired on January 1, 1989
Space flights

Karol Joseph "Bo" Bobko (born December 23, 1937 in New York City , New York ) is a former American astronaut of Lithuanian- Polish descent.

education

Bobko studied aerospace engineering and received a bachelor's degree from the United States Air Force Academy in 1959 and a master's degree from the University of Southern California in 1970 .

In 1960, Bobko received his pilot's license after training with the United States Air Force at Bartow Air Base in Florida and Vance Air Force Base in Oklahoma . From 1961 to 1965 he was deployed on air force bases in New Mexico , North Carolina and California .

Astronaut activity

In June 1966 he was selected by the United States Air Force as an astronaut for the Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) program, which, however, was not implemented.

After the Air Force abandoned the MOL program, some of the designated astronauts were taken over by NASA in August 1969 , including Bobko. There he took part in the Skylab Medical Experiments Altitude Test , a 56-day Skylab simulation on Earth. Bobko was a member of the support teams for the Apollo Soyuz Project (ASTP) and for the approach and landing tests of the space shuttle at Edwards Air Force Base . During the shuttle tests he also acted as a liaison officer (CAPCOM) and as a substitute pilot. Bobko was also involved in the preparations for the Columbia's first shuttle launch ( STS-1 ).

STS-6

On April 4, 1983, Bobko flew into space for the first time as a pilot on the maiden flight of the space shuttle Challenger . The load consisted of the TDRS-1 ( Tracking and Data Relay Satellite ) satellite and some experiments. On this mission, the first space exit was also carried out by a space shuttle.

STS-41-F

STS-41-F was scheduled for August 1984 with the Discovery. This would have been the Discovery's first flight had it not been canceled due to payload delays. The crew were Karol Bobko, Donald E. Williams , Rhea Seddon , David Griggs and Jeffrey A. Hoffman . The flight then became STS-51-E .

STS-51-E

This Challenger flight was canceled due to problems with the IUS upper level. A TDRS satellite should have been deployed. The crew were Karol Bobko, Donald Williams, Rhea Seddon, David Griggs, Jeffrey Hoffman, the French payload specialist Patrick Baudry and the politician Jake Garn .

STS-51-D

On April 12, 1985, the space shuttle Discovery took off into space with Bobko as its commander. This time the payload was the two satellites TELESAT-9 and LEASAT-3 .

STS-51-J

Next, on October 3, 1985, Bobko commanded the space shuttle Atlantis' maiden flight . On board was a secret US Department of Defense payload .

According to NASA

1988 arbitration Bobko from NASA and the Air Force and worked at the firm Booz Allen Hamilton in Houston ( Texas ).

From 2000 he was Vice President for Product Development at SPACEHAB Inc.

In 2005 Bobko joined SAIC where he is Program Manager in support of NASA Ames Simulation Laboratories (SimLabs). SimLabs consists of three flight simulator systems that are used for government and private purposes.

Private

Karol Bobko and his wife Dianne have two children.

See also

Web links

Commons : Karol J. Bobko  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Visit of Dr. Simon P. Worden, Director of the NASA Ames Research Center, and COL Karol J. Bobko, Former NASA Astronaut