KU News Release

LAWRENCE — Steven Hawley, former NASA astronaut and professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Kansas, will reunite this week with crewmates from STS-41-D, the debut mission of the space shuttle Discovery. The event marks the 25th anniversary of the launching of Discovery, the oldest orbiter in NASA’s current shuttle fleet. Discovery’s last mission will be next year when the fleet will be retired.

Hawley served as mission specialist and flight engineer on Discovery’s first mission that deployed three communications satellites, all of which were sent into orbit successfully. The launching of three satellites was a record for one shuttle mission. The STS-41-D mission also included the first IMAX camera in space. Highlights of the mission were included in the popular film “The Dream is Alive.”

Hawley, payload specialist Charles Walker and Commander Henry Hartsfield Jr. will participate in a roundtable discussion concerning the mission at 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 22, at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson.

“I’m pleased to be able to reunite with my Discovery crewmates and perhaps relive some of the adventures we shared together early in the shuttle program,” Hawley said. “I know we’re all pleased at having participated in the filming of ‘The Dream Is Alive,’ which has brought something of the space flight experience to audiences for decades including those at the Kansas Cosmosphere. Space shuttle Discovery has accomplished a great deal in its 25-year lifetime, including carrying the Hubble Space Telescope to orbit in 1990. I’m sure we’ll all be somewhat sorry to see it grounded forever. It was my privilege to fly Discovery three times and I know it is a great spacecraft.”

The event is free and open to the public. Following the presentation, the astronauts will sign autographs and greet the public from 3 to 4:30 p.m.

In addition to Hawley, Walker and Hartsfield, the crew of STS-41-D included pilot Michael Coats, director of Johnson Space Center; Mike Mullane; and Judy Resnik, who died on the Challenger when it exploded.

The launch of Discovery on Aug. 30, 1984, was the 12th shuttle mission. Discovery was the third orbiter built and the lightest because of thermal blanket material used. Its maiden launch was delayed for two months, caused by an engine abort on the pad — the first time that had happened in the shuttle program.

The payload from a scrubbed mission was included on the STS-41-D, bringing the cargo weight up to 47,000 pounds — a shuttle record at that time.

One mission payload was a solar array which was the largest structure ever extended from a manned spacecraft. The solar array was deployed to test the characteristics of such a big structure. Today’s solar arrays on the International Space Station are based on those tests

The mission lasted six days and 56 minutes, returning on Sept. 5, having traveled 2.21 million miles.