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Ellison Onizuka

American - (NASA)

Lost In Flight

Date of Birth: June 24, 1946
Date of Death: Jan. 28, 1986


Ellison Shoji Onizuka (鬼塚 承次 Onizuka Shōji) was an American astronaut from Kealakekua, Hawaii, who successfully flew into space with the Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-51-C. He died in the destruction of the Space Shuttle Challenger, on which he was serving as Mission Specialist for mission STS-51-L. He was the first Asian American and the first person of Japanese ancestry to reach space.

Space Shuttle Discovery / OV-103 | STS-51-C

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
Jan. 24, 1985, 7:50 p.m.
Status: Success
Mission:

STS-51-C was the fifteenth flight of the shuttle program and third for the Space Shuttle Discovery. It was the first space shuttle mission dedicated to the United States Department of Defense and therefore, the mission details remain classified.

Low Earth Orbit
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Space Shuttle Challenger / OV-099 | STS-51-L

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
Jan. 28, 1986, 4:38 p.m.
Status: Failure
Mission:

The tenth mission for Challenger, STS-51-L was scheduled to deploy the second in a series of Tracking and Data Relay Satellites, carry out the first flight of the Shuttle-Pointed Tool for Astronomy (SPARTAN-203) / Halley's Comet Experiment Deployable in order to observe Halley's Comet, and carry out several lessons from space as part of the Teacher in Space Project and Shuttle Student Involvement Program (SSIP).

Low Earth Orbit
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Administrator: Jared Isaacman

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. NASA have many launch facilities but most are inactive. The most commonly used pad will be LC-39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.


Falcon 9
Success
1 day, 18 hours ago
Starlink Group 17-38
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Electron
Success
4 days, 2 hours ago
The Grain Goddess Provides (iQPS Launch 7)
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1A - Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

Synthetic aperture radar Earth observation satellite for Japanese Earth imaging company iQPS.


Falcon 9
Success
5 days, 3 hours ago
BlueBird 11-13 (Block 2 #6-8)
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

AST SpaceMobile’s Block 2 BlueBird satellites are designed to deliver up to 10 times the bandwidth capacity of the BlueBird Block 1 satellites, requi…


Smart Dragon 3
Success
5 days, 8 hours ago
OSE HS-01 & 02
Haiyang offshore launch location - Haiyang Oriental Spaceport

2 hyper-spectral Earth observation satellites from Chinese company STAR.VISION. Both satellites are built in corporation with foreign customers: *…


Falcon 9
Success
5 days, 18 hours ago
Starlink Group 17-53
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.