Riding Rockets - Mike Mullane [173]
These modifications to the family escort policy were adopted and, beginning with STS-26, NASA transported crew children to KSC via its Gulfstream jets. The agency also assumed control over all lodging issues. As for any wife who wanted to have KSC sex with her husband, she would just have to be satisfied with a quickie at the beach house or behind closed doors during a visit to the crew quarters. And she better not be a screamer—the rooms weren’t that soundproof.
As the summer of 1988 was drawing to a close, John Denver came to the astronaut office to brief us on his plans to fly with the Soviets. BeforeChallenger, we had frequently heard Denver’s name mentioned as a potential participant in NASA’s passenger program. That program had been terminated by the disaster, so now the singer was pursuing a trip into space via a Russian rocket. On a visit to Houston, he made contact with JSC and was invited to the astronaut office to discuss his mission plans. He received a chilly reception. Most military astronauts harbored a severe dislike for all things associated with the commies. Russian bullets had been aimed at our planes in Vietnam. Our friends had been killed or imprisoned by their surrogates, the North Vietnamese. The idea that anybody would cozy up with those assholes for any purpose was an outrage to many of us. Denver was peppered with criticism. One Vietnam vet told him that his Russian plans “sucked.” Denver argued that he wasn’t being any more cooperative with the Russians than others in the past had been. “Like Jane Fonda” came a rejoinder from the back. Several astronauts applauded at that. Denver continued to defend himself, explaining that he had always been a big supporter of the space program and it had been a lifetime dream to fly in space. In fact, he said, “I was the one who first suggested to NASA they have a passenger program on the shuttle.” That comment didn’t win him any friends—many in the office were still silver-pinned astronauts because of the passenger program and the seats into space it had consumed. New tracers of criticism shot his way. One astronaut made the observation that when Denver returned from his mission, the press and public would elevate him to the status of “expert” on the space program just because of his celebrity. He would end up on every blue ribbon panel and space policy committee for the next decade, while the real experts, astronauts and others at NASA, would be forgotten. The meeting definitely didn’t give Denver a Rocky Mountain High. He later dropped his Russian flight plans because of the cost, rumored to be $20 million…or maybe he was afraid of what an astronaut would do to him if he made the trip.
On September 29, 1988, STS-26 put America back in space. Four days laterDiscovery streaked out of the Pacific sky to touch down at Edwards AFB. The mission was virtually flawless. At Rick Hauck’s call, “Wheel stop,” I was once again part of a Prime Crew. With the title came a reserved parking place, euphoric joy, and intestine-knotting fear.
*Some astronauts believe even the backpack parachute arrangement might have enabledChallenger ’s downstairs crewmembers to escape. However, there probably wouldn’t have been enough time for the upstairs crewmembers to make it out.
Chapter 33
Classified Work
December 2, 1988, found me and the rest of the STS-27 crew strapped intoAtlantis waiting out a weather delay at T-31 seconds. We had already scrubbed the day before due to out-of-limits high-altitude winds. With the potential of a second scrub hanging over us, the mood in the cockpit was gloomy. I was beginning to think I was cursed. This was my sixth launchpad wait for only a second mission. The problem today was the weather at our transatlantic abort sites in Africa. They were below minimums. The launch director was on the phone with the astronaut observer in Morocco. With the APUs running, a decision had to be made