Gary Payton
American - (USAF)
Retired
Date of Birth: June 20, 1948
Age: 77
Colonel Gary Eugene Payton, USAF, (born June 20, 1948) is an American former astronaut. Payton flew on the STS-51-C mission aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery in January 1985 which launched and returned to land at the Kennedy Space Center, in Florida. STS-51C was the first dedicated Space Shuttle Department of Defense mission. Payton traveled over 1.2 million miles in 48 Earth orbits, and logged more than 73 hours in space.
Space Shuttle Discovery / OV-103 | STS-51-C
National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of AmericaKennedy 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 OrbitThe United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal Corps, the USAF was established as a separate branch of the United States Armed Forces in 1947 with the enactment of the National Security Act of 1947.
Long March 7A
Yaogan 46
201 - Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of ChinaClassified Earth observation satellite officially reported as for "national resources/hydrology/meteorology surveying & disaster management" purposes.
LVM-3 (GSLV Mk III)
CMS-03 (GSAT-7R)
Satish Dhawan Space Centre Second Launch Pad - Satish Dhawan Space Centre, IndiaCommunications Satellite for the Indian Navy, replacing GSAT-7 for secure real-time links between Indian warships, submarines, aircraft, and shore-ba…
Falcon 9
Bandwagon 4 (Dedicated Mid-Inclination Rideshare)
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USADedicated rideshare flight to a mid-inclination orbit with dozens of small microsatellites and nanosatellites for commercial and government customers.
Falcon 9
Starlink Group 11-23
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USAA batch of 28 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Long March 2
Shenzhou 21
Launch Area 4 (SLS-1 / 921) - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of ChinaTenth crewed flight to the Chinese space station.
