Richard “Dick” Truly, one of the first astronauts to fly the space shuttle and later led NASA as its eighth administrator, has died at the age of 86.
Truly’s death on Tuesday (Feb. 27) was confirmed by the Association of Space Explorers, a professional organization for the world’s astronauts and cosmonauts, which considered Truly a life member.
Truly, a naval aviator, was one of the first candidates chosen for the U.S. Air Force’s Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL), but when that program was canceled in 1969, he joined six fellow MOL trainees to form the seventh group NASA astronauts. They were the last class chosen during the Apollo program.
‘I never filled out an application [to join NASA]Truly said in a 2003 NASA oral history, adding that he never applied to be part of the MOL program; the first class was assigned rather than selected. “So I’m the only person who’s ever flown in space and it never applied.”
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Truly’s first space flight was as a pilot on STS-2, the second flight of the Space Transportation System in 1981, but first he was one of only four astronauts to test the winged orbiter’s landing as part of the Approach and Landing Test program which was carried out using the prototype shuttle “Enterprise.”
In combination with his future STS-2 commander Joe AngelTruly flew one “captive” flight, which left the Enterprise attached to the top of the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, and two “free” flights, which separated at altitude from the modified 747 jet and landed at Edwards Air Force Base in South America. California.
On November 12, 1981, Engle and Truly took off aboard the space shuttle Columbia, becoming only the second crew to test the spacecraft in orbit. The mission proved that the space shuttle was reusable. It was also the first to test the Canadarm remote manipulator system, or robotic arm.
“As soon as we took off, I didn’t think they had destroyed everything. I’ve never heard such a rattle in my life,” Truly said at a 2016 gala celebrating the 35th anniversary of the first two Space Shuttles. missions.
Truly and Engle also performed several scientific experiments, tested the orbital maneuvering system (OMS) engines, spoke with President Ronald Reagan, and were awakened by the Muppets (“Pigs in Space”), all before having to cut the scheduled five-day period short. mission short due to fuel cell failure.
On November 14, Engle and Truly landed at Edwards, two days and six hours after launch.
“We flew almost the exact same duration aboard STS-2 as STS-1,” Truly said. ‘But we had five days’ worth of potatoes for a 2.5-day bag. After the mission I went over the flight plan and I thought maybe we could get two, two and a half hours of sleep.”
Eighteen months later he returned to space for real as commander of space shuttle Challenger and the crew of STS-8. Flying with pilot Dan Brandenstein and mission specialists Dale Gardner, Bill Thornton and Guy Bluford – the latter the first African American to fly into space – Truly and his four crew were also the first shuttle astronauts to launch and land at night.
The crew deployed a multi-function weather and communications satellite for the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and gained further experience using the Canadarm by working with a test article for a payload flight. The astronauts were accompanied aboard Challenger by six rats, which were testing a cage needed for future experiments, and by more than 260,000 stamped envelopes that were later sold to the public.
The Challenger landed at Edwards on September 5, 1983, marking the end of its career in space after circling Earth 135 times over the course of two missions and eight days, seven hours and 21 minutes outside the planet.
Richard Harrison “Dick” Truly was born in Fayette, Mississippi on November 12, 1937, 44 years before his first launch. He earned a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1959 and subsequently joined the U.S. Navy.
Truly was designated a naval aviator a year later and flew F-8 Crusaders aboard the USS Intrepid and USS Enterprise, eventually making more than 300 carrier landings as a member of Fighter Squadron 33 (VF-33). He was serving as an instructor at the US Air Force Aerospace Research Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base when he was recruited into the MOL program.
Truly’s first assignment at NASA was as an astronaut support crew member and capsule communicator (capcom) in mission control for the three Skylab orbital workshop missions and the joint U.S.-Russian Apollo-Soyuz test project. After flying Enterprise in the ALT program, he served as backup to STS-1 pilot Bob Crippen.
After landing from STS-8, Truly left NASA to become the first commander of Naval Space Command. However, he returned to the space agency in the wake of the loss of the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986. As associate administrator for spaceflight, Truly led the effort to recover from the tragedy and return the shuttle to flight after a period of almost three years. pause.
Truly retired as a vice admiral in the Navy shortly before being appointed administrator of NASA in 1989. As chief, Truly focused on extending the life of the space shuttle and establishing the International Space Station, large-scale projects that may have spurred the creation of Vice President Dan Quayle. decision to fire Truly on February 12, 1992.
After retiring from NASA for the second time, Truly became vice president and director of the Georgia Tech Research Institute at his alma mater, the Georgia Institute of Technology. In 1987, he was appointed director of the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory and executive vice president of MRIGlobal (formerly the Midwest Research Institute).
He later served on the U.S. Naval Academy Board of Visitors, the Defense Policy Board and the Army Science Board. He was a trustee of Regis University and the Colorado School of Mines and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He was director of Tetra Tech, Edenspace Systems Corporation, Suntricity Cells and Xcel Energy.
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For his service to the United States’ efforts in space, Truly was awarded two NASA Distinguished Service Medals, the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, two NASA Exceptional Service Medals, and two NASA Space Flight Medals. He also received the Robert J. Collier Trophy (twice, in 1982 and 1989), the Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy (twice, 1982 and 1989), and the Ivan C. Kincheloe Award from the Society of Experimental Test Pilot in 1978, in addition many other civil and military awards.
In 1995 he was inducted into the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame. In 2001 he was inducted into the American Astronaut Hall of Fame.
In 2007, Truly donated his personal archives to Regis University, where they are preserved as part of the Richard H. Truly US Space Program Collection.
In 2022, Truly was portrayed by actor John Hartmann in the third season of the alternate space history series “For All Mankind”.
Echt was married to Colleen “Cody” Hanner of Milledgeville, Georgia and they had two sons, Richard Michael and Daniel Bennett; a daughter, Margaret Lee; five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
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