by This year’s US Astronaut Hall of Fame induction ceremony was also a joint one, as the two honorees took to the stage beneath the spaceship on which they once crossed paths.
NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida hosted the unveiling ceremony for the retired space shuttle Atlantis on Saturday (June 1). A full house of former astronauts, space program officials and the public was there to add David Hilmers and Marsha Ivins to the hall’s steps.
“We are here to honor two distinguished space explorers, who have had outstanding careers and made significant contributions to NASA and the world,” said John Zarella, former CNN space correspondent who was the master of ceremonies. “Together they comprise the 25th class of astronauts to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, bringing the total number of astronauts in this distinguished society to 109.”
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Although they didn’t fly together — Hilmers and Ivins were chosen four years apart to become astronauts — they were both at NASA when the agency’s fourth-wing orbiter made its first flight.
“I am very happy to be so honored under Atlantis. I was on board Atlantis when it blasted into the sky for the first time on a beautiful October day in 1985,” said Hilmers, who made the first one of his four flights as mission specialist STS-51J. “When we got to the [launch] pad, the “Cape Crusaders” and it was Marsha and she helped us strap and get into our survival vests, and into our seats.”
“It’s really a privilege to share a stage with somebody who I think is one of the best people on or off the planet,” Ivins said, speaking to Hilmers before turning her attention to Atlantis and the audience sitting below it. “If not, please look and acknowledge this piece of human history you are sitting on.”
Hilmers also paid tribute to Atlantis in his comments.
“Even though she is retired, she continues to be on duty, giving thousands of visitors the opportunity to see what it was like to be on board,” he said. “Like Atlantis, I also retired from active duty with NASA and began a new mission. My path took me in a completely different direction, and this is the first time I have returned to the Kennedy Space Center with over twenty years.”
Hilmers and Ivins were welcomed into the Hall of Fame by one of their colleagues: Norm Thagard, who flew with Hilmers on STS-42 in 1992 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2004, and John Grunsfeld, who sent accompanied Ivins on STS-81 in 1997 and covered in 2015.
“My original thought was, this will be one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, because Colonel, Dr. David C. Hilmers is a pretty incredible individual,” said Thagard. “My concern was, no matter how convincing I might try to be, those of you who don’t know Dave would say ‘you’re exaggerating.’ The easiest part is that I don’t have to exaggerate because what I’m about to tell you is incredible enough in itself.”
Half of Hilmers’ missions were flown in service to the Department of Defense. Both STS-51J and STS-36, the latter in 1990, launched on Atlantis with payloads that remain classified to this day. The other two Hilmers flights were on shuttle Discovery, including STS-26 in 1988, NASA “return to flight” after the Challenger tragedy in 1986; and STS-42, which focused on the effects of microgravity on various forms of life.
After leaving NASA in 1992, Hilmers received his Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree and a second Master’s degree in public health. He is currently a professor of internal medicine and pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine and, in addition to his volunteer work in disaster relief and low-resource countries, Hilmers is helping NASA determine what the medical expertise requirements will be. on missions to. the moon and Mars.
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Ivins left such an impressive mark on NASA, Grunsfeld said, although she may be the last person to admit it.
“Marsha is not an attention seeker. In fact, when [the call came] to announce that she was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame, I think she had some fun with this whole event,” Grunsfeld said.[Yet] Marsha still helped push NASA forward, not wanting to be in the moment.”
“All of us who flew on the space shuttle are indebted to her for the work she did,” he said.
Ivins’ first flight into space was the first of his two on the space shuttle Columbia. On STS-32 in 1990, she and her colleagues recovered the Long Distance Exposure Facility (LDEF), a free-floating material science platform the size of a school bus. Four years later on STS-62, she and her four colleagues continued to study the effects of microgravity on materials sciences and spaceflight technologies.
Ivins’ next three missions were aboard Atlantis, making it one of the orbiter’s three most frequent flights. On STS-46 in 1992, she assisted in the first attempt to deploy the Tethered Satellite System. On STS-81 in 1997, Ivins visited Mir on the fifth shuttle mission to dock with the Russian space station. Finally, on STS-98 in 2001, Ivins helped install the US “Destiny” laboratory for the International Space Station and delivered supplies to the orbiting complex’s first resident crew.
Since leaving the agency, Ivins has been a consultant on “A Beautiful Planet,” the last IMAX documentary shot in space, and supported proposal work on a human lunar landing vehicle. Today she is the director of human systems integration at Sophic Synergistics, a Houston-based design consulting firm that supports human space exploration efforts.
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As with previous induction classes, a committee of astronaut Hall of Fame members, former NASA officials, historians and journalists selected Hilmers and Ivins. The process is administered by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation.
To be eligible for nomination, an astronaut must have made his or her first flight at least 15 years prior to induction. Applicants must be United States citizens and a NASA-trained space shuttle command pilot, mission specialist, or International Space Station commander or flight engineer who has orbited Earth once least and whose last day was at least eligible for a flight assignment as a NASA astronaut. Five years ago.
Saturday’s ceremony concluded with the unveiling of the glass etchings that will represent Hilmers and Ivins.
The plaques, featuring the likenesses of Hilmers and Ivins, along with mission patches from their respective space flights, will be displayed in the US Astronaut Hall of Fame, which has been part of the Heroes & Legends attraction at the Kennedy Space Center since 2016. Visitor Complex.
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