| Aircraft
Accidents Theodore Freeman Charles Bassett II Elliot See Clifton Williams, Jr. Robert Lawrence Michael Adams Yuri Gagarin John McKay Stephen Thorne Stanley David Griggs Manley Carter, Jr. Patricia Hilliard Robertson
Apollo 1
Soyuz 11
Challenger STS-51L
Columbia
STS-107 Other |
Born: 24 June 1946 in Kealakekua, Kona, Hawaii. Education: Received bachelor and master of science degrees in aerospace engineering in June and December 1969, respectively, from the University of Colorado. Marital Status: Married the former Lorna Leiko Yoshida. Children: Janelle Mitsue (22 October 1969), and Darien Lei Shizue (11 March 1975). Other Activities: He enjoyed running, hunting, fishing, and indoor/outdoor sports. Organizations: Member of the Society of Flight Test Engineers, the Air Force Association,. the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Tau Beta Pi (national engineering society), Sigma Tau, and the Triangle Fraternity. Awards: Onizuka and his six crewmates were awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor on 23 July 2004. Special Honors: Presented the Air Force Commendation Medal, Air Force Meritorious Service Medal, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, Air Force Organizational Excellence Award, and National Defense Service Medal. Experience: El Onizuka entered on active duty with the United States Air Force in January 1970 after receiving his commission at the University of Colorado through the four-year ROTC program as a distinguished military graduate. As an aerospace flight test engineer with the Sacramento Air Logistics Center at McClellan Air Force Base, California, he participated in flight test programs and systems safety engineering for the F-84, F-100, F-105, F-111, EC-121T, T-33, T-39, T-28, and A-1 aircraft. He attended the USAF Test Pilot School from August 1974 to July 1975, receiving formal academic and flying instruction in performance, stability and control, and systems flight testing of aircraft. In July 1975, he was assigned to the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base, California, serving on the USAF Test Pilot School curriculum courses and management of all flight test modifications to general support fleet aircraft (A-7, A-37, T-38, F-4, T-33, and KC-135) used by the test pilot school and the flight test center. He logged more than 1,700 hours of flying time. NASA Experience: El was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in January 1978. He completed a one-year training and evaluation period in August 1979. He subsequently worked on orbiter test and checkout teams and launch support crews at the Kennedy Space Center for STS-1 and STS-2. He worked on software test and checkout crew at the Shuttle Avionics and Integration Laboratory (SAIL), and supported numerous other technical assignments ranging from astronaut crew equipment/orbiter crew compartment coordinator to systems and payload development. He first flew as a mission specialist on STS-51C Discovery, the first Space Shuttle Department of Defense mission, which launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 24 January 1985. During the mission Onizuka was responsible for the primary payload activities, which included the deployment of a modified Inertial Upper Stage (IUS). STS-51C completed 48 orbits before landing at Kennedy Space Center on 27 January 1985. He logged a total of 74 hours in space. His final mission was as a mission specialist of STS-51L Challenger. This mission included the first citizen, Teacher In Space Christa McAuliffe. It was to have deployed a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, and a retrievable spacecraft, SPARTAN, to study Comet Halley. Challenger was destroyed 73 seconds after liftoff, killing all seven on board. Quote: "I'll be looking at Halley's Comet... one of the best views around." |
