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William E. Thornton

American - (NASA)

Deceased

Date of Birth: April 14, 1929
Date of Death: Jan. 14, 2020


William Edgar Thornton is a former NASA astronaut.

Space Shuttle Challenger / OV-099 | STS-8

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
Aug. 30, 1983, 6:32 a.m.
Status: Success
Mission:

STS-8 was the third mission of Space Shuttle Challenger. It deployed an Indian 10 and Weather satellite. It was the first night launch and night landing of the Shuttle program. It also carried the first African-American astronaut; Guion Bluford.

Low Earth Orbit
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Space Shuttle Challenger / OV-099 | STS-51-B

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
April 29, 1985, 4:02 p.m.
Status: Success
Mission:

STS-51-B was the seventeenth flight of the shuttle program and the seventh for Space Shuttle Challenger. It was the second flight for SpaceLab.

Low Earth Orbit
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Acting Administrator: James Free

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. NASA have many launch facilities but most are inactive. The most commonly used pad will be LC-39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.


Falcon 9
Success
7 hours, 58 minutes ago
Project Kuiper (KF-02)
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

Second of a three launches contract for Amazon's Kuiper low Earth orbit satellite internet constellation. 24 satellites are on board.


Smart Dragon 3
Success
3 days, 4 hours ago
Geely Constellation Group 04
Oriental Spaceport mobile launch ship - Sea Launch

11 LEO communications satellites for Chinese car manufacturer Geely Automotive for testing autonomous driving/inter-vehicle communication services. T…


Electron
Success
6 days, 16 hours ago
The Harvest Goddess Thrives (iQPS Launch 4)
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1B - Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

Synthetic aperture radar Earth observation satellite for Japanese Earth imaging company iQPS.


Long March 12
Success
1 week ago
SatNet LEO Group 07
Commercial LC-2 - Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China

A batch of 9 Low Earth Orbit communication satellites for the Chinese state owned SatNet constellation operated by the China Satellite Network Group.…


Falcon 9
Success
1 week ago
Starlink Group 10-30
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

A batch of 28 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.