He survived nuclear physics - “I was over my head” - and he loved fluid dynamics and relished a class in automotive engineering.
He recalls spelunking and taking his dirt bike to Chiva Falls in the Rincons, but he also studied hard. He enrolled at the UA, bringing along his motorcycle and his hiking boots. in aerospace engineering to pursue his dream of being a NASA astronaut. Coming off his second tour in Vietnam as a helicopter pilot, he figured he needed an M.S. Woody Spring found his way to the UA after West Point and time in the U.S. At the controls of the Challenger, Scobee’s last words were, “Roger, go at throttle up.” Woody Spring - M.S., Aeronautical engineering 28, 1986, in one of the worst space-program tragedies. He flew a variety of missions from Kennedy Space Center and became commander of the Space Shuttle Challenger, which exploded 73 seconds into the mission on Jan. Scobee was selected for astronaut duty by NASA in 1978. In all, he logged 6,500 hours flying 45 types of aircraft. Later, he won a spot at the Air Force Aerospace Research Pilot School in California. He flew in combat in Vietnam from 1968-69, was hit by enemy fire a number of times and earned the Distinguished Flying Cross. Scobee immediately enlisted in the Air Force, where he served as an engine mechanic.Īfter landing at the UA, he got his B.S. Dick Scobee - B.S., Aeronautical engineeringĭick Scobee graduated from high school in Auburn, Washington, in 1957, the same year the Soviet Union launched Sputnik and moved a step ahead of the American space program.
Read our UA alumni astronaut stories and imagine the next UA scientist or engineer who may even today be looking up at the skies over Tucson, plotting a course to history. As scientists, the UA’s spacefarers have engaged in research that could pave the way for the era of space colonists. Three studied aerospace engineering the other three studied planetary sciences, chemical engineering and geology.Īll brought skill and courage to a high-risk adventure.Īs engineers, they helped complete the $50 billion ISS in 2011. The six UA astronauts came to Tucson from across the nation: from Washington, Rhode Island, Maryland, Oregon, New York and California. Next year, about a dozen new astronauts will be selected from more than 18,000 who applied to NASA. Who will be next? One thing is certain: That man or woman will be among the best of the best in space travel. 5, Fernando Caldeiro, devoted his astronaut career to technical support of 52 launches at Kennedy Space Center. 4, Don Pettit, worked on the International Space Station (ISS) alongside No. 3, Tom Jones, studied where to look for water way out in space, posing questions that the UA is still exploring almost three decades later in the OSIRIS-REx project. The UA’s second astronaut, Woody Spring, was a motorcycle-riding, scuba-diving West Point grad back from two tours of flying in Vietnam. “It was all about a degree in aerospace engineering and flying airplanes.”īy encouraging UA students to follow in his footsteps, Scobee started a tradition that continues long after his untimely death during the 1986 launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger. “The UA was his first choice,” his widow, June Scobee Rodgers, said recently. Scobee, who was the first enlisted man to rise to the title of astronaut, had won an Air Force scholarship and could have studied anywhere. He would become the first of six UA astronauts to join the world’s greatest assembly of space travelers. Over time, Scobee would move up from engine mechanic to pilot to astronaut to commander of the incredible chariot called the Challenger. From those classes, Scobee embarked on a long trajectory into space, where the United States needed him to help catch up with the Russians. The location was convenient: Dick could walk the five blocks to his aerospace engineering classes. It was the summer of 1963 when Dick and June Scobee and their 2-year-old daughter Kathie arrived at a red-brick rental house on Mountain Avenue.