Ernst Messerschmid
German - (DLR)
Retired
Date of Birth: May 21, 1945
Age: 80
Ernst Willi Messerschmid (born May 21, 1945) is a German physicist and former astronaut. From 1978 to 1982, he worked at the DFVLR (the precursor of the DLR) in the Institute of Communications Technology in Oberpfaffenhofen on space-borne communications. In 1983, he was selected as one of the astronauts for the first German Spacelab mission D-1. He flew as payload specialist on STS-61-A in 1985, spending over 168 hours in space.
Space Shuttle Challenger / OV-099 | STS-61-A
National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of AmericaKennedy Space Center, FL, USA
Oct. 30, 1985, 5 p.m.
Status: Success
Mission:
STS-61-A was the twenty-second space shuttle flight and ninth for Space Shuttle Challenger. It was a scientific spacelab mission funded entirely by West Germany. The payload operations were controlled from the German Space Operations Center as opposed to the regular NASA centers.
Low Earth OrbitThe German Aerospace Center is Germany's Center for aerospace, energy, and transportation research. Their main work is as a contributor to the ESA. They have done work both in tandem with the US on Space Shuttle and the ISS, and also with other European Nations on missions like Space Lab and Mars Express.
Long March 2D
SatNet test satellite
Launch Complex 3 (LC-3/LA-1) - Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of ChinaOfficially described as "Satellite-Internet Technology Demonstration Satellite(s)". Probably 1 or more test satellites for the Chinese state-owned…
Angara 1.2
Kosmos (Unknown Payload)
35/1 - Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian FederationUnknown satellite(s) for the Russian military.
Falcon 9
Starlink Group 17-14
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USAA batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Electron
Kakushin Rising (JAXA Rideshare)
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1A - Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New ZealandJAXA-manifested rideshare of eight separate spacecraft that includes educational small sats, an ocean monitoring satellite, a demonstration satellite…
Electron
Bubbles
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 (Launch Area 0 C) - Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USASub-orbital launch under Rocket Lab’s Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron (HASTE) program, details TBD.
