Scobee Credit - www.spacefacts.de

Personal: Male, Married, Two children. Born in Cle Elum, Washington, USA. Challenger explosion. US Air Force US Air Force

Astronaut Career

Astronaut Group: NASA Group 8 - 1978. Deceased Entered space service: 16 January 1978. Left space service: 1986. Number of Flights: 2.00. Total Time: 6.99 days.

Official NASA Biography:

Francis R. (Dick) Scobee was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Francis W. Scobee. He was born on May 19, 1939, in Cle Elum, Washington, and graduated from the public high school in Auburn, Washington, in 1957. He then enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, training as a reciprocating engine mechanic but longing to fly. He took night courses and in 1965 completed a B.S. degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Arizona. This made it possible for Scobee to receive an officer's commission and enter the Air Force pilot training program. He received his pilot's wings in 1966 and began a series of flying assignments with the Air Force, including a combat tour in Vietnam. Scobee also married June Kent of San Antonio, Texas, and they had two children, Kathie R. and Richard W., in the early 1960s. He attended the USAF Aerospace Research Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California, in 1972 and thereafter was involved in several test programs. As an Air Force test pilot Scobee flew more than 45 types of aircraft, logging more than 6,500 hours of flight time.

In 1978 Scobee entered NASA's astronaut corps and was the pilot of STS-41-C, the fifth orbital flight of the Challenger spacecraft, launching from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on April 6, 1984. During this seven-day mission the crew successfully retrieved and repaired the ailing Solar Maximum Satellite and returned it to orbit. This was an enormously important mission, because it demonstrated the capability that NASA had long said existed with the Space Shuttle to repair satellites in orbit. Scobee died in the Challenger explosion.

• 6 April 1984 Flight: STS-41-C. Flight Up: STS-41-C. Flight Back: STS-41-C. Flight Time: 6.99 days.

• 28 January 1986 Flight: STS-51-L. Flight Up: STS-51-L. Flight Back: STS-51-L. Flight Time: 0.0008 days.

21 October 1975 - X-24 Flight 60. Maximum Speed - 743 kph. Maximum Altitude - 13720 m. Flight Time - 255 sec.

Mission Specialists: Bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics and minimum three years of related experience or an advanced degree. Vision minimum 20/150 uncorrected, correctable to 20/20. Maximum sitting blood pressure of 140/90. Height between 150 and 193 cm.. 8,079 applicants, of which half met the basic qualifications. 208 invited for physical tests and interviews. Of the 35 selected, six were women, three were male African-Americans, and one was a male Asian-American.