Donald Williams NASA Bio. Learn More In 1985, Williams served as pilot of STS-51D aboard space shuttle Discovery. During the mission, the crew (which included payload specialist Charles Walker, ...

In 38 trips to space, Discovery has spent 352 days in orbit, almost a full year. Discovery has circled Earth 5,628 times, all the while speeding along at 17,400 miles per hour.

Garn joined the STS-51D crew on Discovery for a week-long mission to deploy two communications satellites in 1985. Nelson, who later was elected to the Senate, flew on Columbia with the STS-61C crew.

Discovery was completed in 1983 and took four years to build. ... One of those missions, STS-51D, counted the first sitting member of Congress among its crew, Utah Senator Jake Garn.

Launched in April 1985, STS-51D was shuttle Discovery's fourth flight and marked the first time a sitting member of Congress, Senator Jake Garn, flew in space.

Bobko served as mission commander on both STS-51D space shuttle Discovery in April 1985 and mission STS-51J, the maiden voyage of shuttle Atlantis in Oct. 1985.

Discovery has circled Earth 5,628 times, all the while speeding along at 17,400 miles per hour. It has travelled almost 143 million miles. That equals 288 round trips to the moon or about one and ...