HOUSTON -- The crews for two upcoming Department of Defense space shuttle missions, including the first launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, were announced Friday by the space agency.
Veteran space shuttle commander Robert L. Crippen will head the crew of the mission to be launched no earlier than Jan. 29 from Vandenberg.
Other crew members include co-pilot Guy S. Gardner and mission specialists Dale A. Gardner, Jerry L. Ross and R. Michael Mullane.
Crippen will be making his fifth shuttle flight, his fourth as commander. He flew on the maiden flight of Columbia in April 1981. The mission will be the third for Dale Gardner while Mullane will be making his second trip into space. The mission will be the first for Guy Gardner and Ross.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration also said Karol Bobko will be commander of the mission scheduled to be launched from Kennedy Space Center in September. He will be joined by co-pilot Ronald J. Grabe and mission specialists David C. Hilmers and Robert L. Stewart.
The mission will be the third for Bobko, who is commander of the mission scheduled for launch March 3. Stewart will be making his second trip into space while the mission is the first for Grabe and Hilmers.
NASA spokesman Dave Alter said the two flights will carry secret cargos and additional crew members could be named by the Air Force or Defense Department.
The first Defense Department mission last month launched a secret spy satellite.
