Onizuka, Ellison S.

Description

Autograph ID: 161
Condition: Very good, faint trace of addressee
Description: “(1946-1986) Hawaiian-born astronaut of Japanese ancestry, aeronautical engineer, entered USAF 1970 as flight test engineer. Selected in 1978 as one of final 35 astronaut recruits for NASA. First space mission in Jan. 1985 as payload specialist on 1st Dept. of defense flight STS-51C on Space Shuttle “Discovery”. On Jan. 28, 1966 he was kiled aboard the “Challenger” shortly after lift-off.

3 3/4 x 6 1/2 cover postmarked Kennedy Space Center, Jan. 24, 1985 (date of STS-51C launch) with stamped cachet “The Third Flight of DISCOVERY”. Onizuka signs and adds date of Feb. 12, 1979 (perhaps date of entry into NASA program?).”

Type: Cover