On June 29, 1995, the American space shuttle Atlantis docked
with the Russian space station Mir to form the largest man-
made satellite ever to orbit the Earth.
This historic moment of cooperation between former rival
space programs was also the 100th human space mission
in American history.
BRIAN THOMAS
While in orbit 170 miles above Earth, Navy Captain Bruce McCandless
II became the first human being to perform an untethered spacewalk, when he exits the U.S. space shuttle Challenger and maneuvers
freely, using a bulky white jet pack of his own design.
McCandless orbited Earth in tangent with the shuttle at speeds
greater than 17,500 miles per hour—the speed at which satellites normally orbit Earth—and flew up to 320 feet away from the
Challenger. After an hour and a half of testing and flying the jet-
powered backpack and admiring Earth, McCandless safely
reentered the shuttle.
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Bruce McCandless II (Byron Willis McCandless)
(June 8, 1937 – December 21, 2017)
CAMILLE BOHANNON
Jerry Lee Lewis, often known by his nickname…The Killer
is 84 years old to day.
Singer-songwriter Jerry Lee Lewis has been described as a pioneer of
rockabilly and ‘’rock & roll’s first great wild man.”
Lewis has a dozen gold records in both rock and country. He has won
several Grammy awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award and
was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.
On February 28, 2019, Lewis suffered a minor stroke in Memphis. He is
expected to fully recover, but had to cancel some appearances.
Guion Stewart Bluford Jr., Ph.D.
U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Guion S. Bluford became the first African American to travel into space when the space shuttle Challenger lifts off on
its third mission. It was the first night launch of a space shuttle, and many
people stayed up late to watch the spacecraft roar up from Cape Canaveral,
Florida, at 2:32 a.m.
The Challenger spent six days in space, during which time Bluford and his
four fellow crew members launched a communications satellite for the
government of India, made contact with an errant communications satellite, conducted scientific experiments, and tested the shuttle’s robotic arm. Just
before dawn on September 5, the shuttle landed at Edwards Air Force Base
in California, bringing an end to the most flawless shuttle mission to that
date.
These five astronauts were the crew members for STS-8, Challenger. Richard M. Truly, center, crew commander. Daniel C. Brandenstein,
left, was the pilot. The mission specialists were Dale A. Gardner,
William E. Thornton (both on back row) and Guion S. Bluford.
Guion “Buy” Bluford will be 77 on Nov. 22.
