by Richard “Dick” Truly, who was one of the first astronauts to fly on the space shuttle and later led NASA as its eighth administrator, died at the age of 86.
Truly’s death was confirmed on Tuesday (February 27) by the Association of Space Explorers, a professional organization for the world’s astronauts and cosmonauts, who truly count as a life member.
A naval aviator, Truly was among the first candidates selected for the United States Air Force’s Staff Orbital Laboratory (MOL), but when that program was canceled in 1969, he joined six other MOL trainees to form a seventh group create NASA astronauts. They were the last class selected during the Apollo program.
“I never filled out an application [to join NASA]” Truly said in a 2003 NASA oral history, adding that he never applied to be part of the MOL program; first class was assigned rather than selected. “So I was the only one who flew in the space that never applied.”
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Truly’s first spaceflight was as the pilot of STS-2, the second flight of the Space Shuttle System in 1981, but first he was one of four astronauts to test the winged orbital landings as part of the Approach Test program and Landings made using. the prototype shuttle “Enterprise.”
Along with his future STS-2 commander Joe EngleOne flight actually flew “captured” with Enterprise remaining attached to the top of the Aircraft Carrier Shuttle and two “free” flights, separating at altitude from the modified 747 jetliner to then touch down at Edwards Air Force Base in the south California.
On November 12, 1981, Engle and Truly took off aboard the space shuttle Columbia, only the second crew to test the spacecraft in Earth orbit. The mission proved that the space shuttle was reusable. He was also the first to “fly” test the Canadarm remote control system, or robotic arm.
“As soon as we got up, I didn’t think they had all the things down. I’ve never heard such a trend in my entire life,” Truly said at the 2016 gala celebrating his 35th anniversary. on the first two space shuttles. missions.
Truly and Engle also conducted several science experiments, tested the shuttle’s orbital maneuvering system (OMS) engines, spoke to President Ronald Reagan and were woken up by the Muppets (“Pigs in Space”), all before they had to five days was planned to cut. mission cut short due to fuel cell failure.
On November 14th, Engle and Truly landed at Edwards, two days and six hours after their departure.
“We flew almost the same distance aboard STS-2 and STS-1,” Truly said. “But we had five days of potatoes to put in a 2.5 day bag. I went through the flight plan after the mission and I realized we got maybe two hours, two and a half hours of sleep.”
He actually returned to space a year and a half later as commander of the space shuttle Challenger and the STS-8 crew. Flying with pilot Dan Brandenstein and mission specialists Dale Gardner, Bill Thornton and Guy Bluford – the latter the first African American to fly into space – Truly and his four crewmates were also the first shuttle astronauts to launch and landing at night.
The team deployed a multi-purpose weather and communications satellite for the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and got more practice using the Canadarm by working with a payload flight test section. Six rats accompanied astronauts aboard Challenger, which was testing the cage needed for future experiments, and more than 260,000 stamped envelopes were later sold to the public.
Challenger actually landed at Edwards on September 5, 1983, ending his career in space after orbiting Earth 135 times over two missions and eight days, seven hours and 21 minutes of Earth .
Richard Harrison “Dick” Truly was born in Fayette, Mississippi on November 12, 1937, 44 years to the day before his first launch. He received a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1959 and then joined the US Navy.
Designated a true naval aviator a year later, F-8 Crusaders flew aboard the USS Intrepid and USS Enterprise, making more than 300 carrier landings as a member of Fighter Squadron 33 (VF-33). He was serving as an instructor at the United States Air Force Aerospace Research Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base when he was recruited into the MOL program.
Truly’s first assignment at NASA was as a member of the astronaut support and capsule communications (capcom) team in mission control for the three Skylab orbital workshop missions and the US-Russia Apollo-Soyuz Joint Test Project. After the Enterprise flight in the ALT program, he served as backup to STS-1 pilot Bob Crippen.
After landing from STS-8, Truly left NASA to become the first commander of the Naval Space Command. However, he returned to the space agency after the loss of the space shuttle Challenger in 1986. As associate administrator for spaceflight, he effectively led the effort to recover from the tragedy and return the shuttle to flight. after almost three years. hiatus
He retired from the Navy as a vice admiral shortly before becoming NASA administrator in 1989. As chief executive, he really focused on extending the life of the space shuttle and establishing the International Space Station, large-scale projects that Vice President Dan Quayle could be encouraged. decision to set fire to Tír on February 12, 1992.
After leaving NASA for the second time, Truly went on to become vice president and director of the Georgia Tech Research Institute at his alma mater, the Georgia Institute of Technology. In 1987, he was named director of the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory and executive vice president of MRIGlobal (formerly the Midwest Research Institute).
He actually served on the board of visitors to the US Naval Academy, the defense policy board and the Army science board. He was a trustee of Regis University and the Colorado School of Mines and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He was a director of Tetra Tech, Edenspace Systems Corporation, Suntricity Cells and Xcel Energy.
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For his service to the United States’ efforts in space he was awarded two NASA distinguished service medals, a NASA outstanding leadership medal, two NASA exceptional service medals and two NASA space flight medals. He was also awarded the Robert J. Collier Trophy (twice, in 1982 and 1989), the Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy (twice, 1982 and 1989) and the Ivan C. Kincheloe Award of the Society for Experimental Testing in 1978, among the numerous other civil and military honors.
In 1995, he was inducted into the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame. In 2001, he was inducted into the US Astronaut Hall of Fame.
In 2007, Truly donated his personal archives to Regis University, where they are held as part of the Richard H. Truly US Space Program Collection.
In 2022, actor John Hartmann Truly appeared in the third season of the alternate space history series “For All Mankind.”
Truly was married to Colleen “Cody” Hanner of Milledgeville, Georgia and had two sons, Richard Michael and Daniel Bennett; a daughter, Margaret Lee; five children and four grandchildren.
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