| Name |
Robert Laurel Crippen |
| Born |
11 Sep 1937 |
Beaumont, Jefferson, Texas  |
| Gender |
Male |
| Military Service |
U.S. Navy |
| Naval aviator, test pilot. |
| Occupation |
14 Aug 1969 |
| Crippen was part of Astronaut Group 7. The seven astronauts were the last group to be selected during the Apollo era. All of the remaining Apollo flights already had astronauts assigned. The 7 were given non-flying support rolls in the missions as the program rolled to a close. It would take more than a decade but, all seven eventually made it to space. |
 |
Robert Crippen.
Robert Crippen official NASA portrait |
 |
Nasa Astronaut Group 7.
Nasa Astronaut Group 7. Robert is in the center holding a model of the Apollo lunar landing module. |
| Occupation |
12 Apr 1981 |
| Space Shuttle Mission STS-1 |
 |
STS-1 Patch.
STS-1 (Space Transport System - first mission) |
 |
STS-1 Crew.
Robert was the very first space shuttle pilot. John W. Young who was the mission commander was the 9th person to walk on the moon. Robert was selected in 1969 to be an astronaut but, had never been to space. A rookie was chosen to accompany the experienced commander so that NASA could expand it's pool of experienced astronauts.
Their mission was simple. Take off, orbit the earth for two days and then land thereby proving that the most complex spacecraft ever built would work as designed. |
 |
STS-1 Training.
Crippen and Young in the shuttle simulator training for the mission. The shuttle cockpit contains 2,214 switches and displays, about three times more that the Apollo command module. |
 |
STS-1 Rollout.
The Shuttle Columbia makes it way to the launch site. The crawler's top speed is one mile per hour. The trip takes about 6 hours and uses up 150 gallons of diesel fuel per mile. |
 |
Columbia on the Launch Pad.
Columbia sits on the launch pad the night before it's mission. Note that the booster which became known for it's iconic orange color is white. It was painted white for the first two missions. Then the engineers realized that leaving the paint off would be a weight savings of about 600 pounds. |
 |
STS-1 Lift Off.
STS-1 Lift Off. |
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Robert Crippen in Space.
Robert Crippen floating in the micro-gravity aboard shuttle Columbia. |
 |
STS-1 Landing.
STS-1 Landing. |
| Occupation |
18 Jun 1983 |
| Space Shuttle Mission STS-7 |
 |
STS-7
STS-7 |
 |
STS-7 Crew.
Robert (center front) was the commander of his second shuttle flight which was historic because it also included America's first female astronaut. |
 |
Challenger Launch STS-7.
Challenger Launch STS-7. |
 |
STS-7 Launch.
Challenger taking off as seen from the NASA observation plane. |
 |
STS-7 Crew in Space.
STS-7 Crew in Space. |
 |
Challenger STS-7 in Space.
The seventh shuttle mission was the first time the free-flying Shuttle Pallet Satellite (SPAS-01) was used. it was designed to be released and preform experiments or collect data after which it would be retrieved and return to earth with the shuttle. This allowed for this spectacular selfie. |
 |
STS-7 Landing.
Challenger returns to earth. |
| Occupation |
6 Apr 1984 |
| Space Shuttle Mission STS-14-C |
 |
STS-41-C Patch.
Robert served as the commander for this mission. |
 |
STS-13 Patch.
This mission was originally supposed to be STS-13. Missions were officially referred to as Space Transport System and sequentially numbered. However with the Apollo 13 failure and a touch of superstition the NASA director refused to launch a spacecraft numbered STS-13 especially since it was schedule to land on Friday the 13th!
The numbering system was revised. Missions were now known by the a more complicated system. The first digit indicated the federal fiscal year. The second indicated the launch location with 1 being the Kennedy Space Center and 2 being Vandenburg Air Force Base. (the second launch location was never used) Finally the letter indicated the launch sequence with in that year. After the Challenger disaster in 1986 NASA returned to the original numbering system.
This unofficial patch was made up by the crew. Reproductions have been made. Original patches are quite rare. |
 |
STS-41-C Crew.
STS-41-C Crew. Robert Crippen is on the left. |
 |
STS-41-C Launch.
STS-41-C Launch. Shuttle Challenger leaves the launch pad. |
 |
STS-41-C Landing.
STS-41-C Challenger landing safely on Friday the 13th. |
| Occupation |
5 Oct 1984 |
| Space Shuttle Mission STS-41-G |
 |
STS-41-G Patch.
STS-41-G Patch. On his last space flight Robert served as the commander. |
 |
STS-41-G Crew.
STS-41-G Crew. |
 |
STS-41-G Launch.
STS-41-G Launches at 6:00am local time before the sun has had a chance to rise. |
 |
STS-41-G Challenger.
Shuttle Challenger leaves earth in the pre-dawn light.
This mission covered a lot of firsts..
At the time it was the largest crew to fly on a single spacecraft.
The first mission with two women.
The first Canadian citizen to serve as a Shuttle crew member, as well as the first Canadian in space. (Marc Garneau)
The first American woman to walk in space. (Kathryn D. Sullivan)
Crippen became the first American astronaut to complete two space missions in the same calendar year. |
 |
STS-41-G Landing.
STS-41-G Landing. |
| Occupation |
28 Jan 1986 |
| Space Shuttle Mission STS-51-L. |
 |
STS-51L Commission.
In the wake of the Challenger disaster Robert served on the recovery crew and worked with the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident. Here he is pointing to heat resistant tiles on a shuttle in the Vehicle Assembly Building for the benefit of members of the commission. |
 |
Challenger Tribute Poster.
Challenger Tribute Poster. |
| Siblings |
| 1. Herbert Wesley Crippen, b. 22 Jun 1936, Ada, Pontotoc, Oklahoma , d. 12 Oct 1936, Corpus Christi, Nueces, Texas |
|
| Person ID |
I57046 |
Nagel |
| Last Modified |
26 Jan 2021 |
1937 - 
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