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Sonny Carter Biography |
Manley Lanier "Sonny" Carter, Jr. (August 15, 1947 - April 5, 1991) was an astronaut who flew on STS-33. He was also selected to fly on STS-42 at the time of his death in a commercial airplane accident in Brunswick, Georgia[1] (http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20001212X16773&key=1) while on travel for NASA. After his death, his name was given to the underwater astronaut training facility, to development of which he contributed substantially.
Selected by NASA in May 1984, Carter became an astronaut in June 1985, qualified for assignment as a mission specialist on future Space Shuttle flight crews. Carter was assigned as Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Representative for the Mission Development Branch of the Astronaut Office when selected to the crew of STS-33. The STS-33 crew launched, at night, from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on November 22, 1989, aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery. The mission carried Department of Defense payloads and other secondary payloads. After 79 orbits of the earth, this five-day mission concluded on November 27, 1989 with a hard surface landing on Runway 04 at Edwards Air Force Base, California. With the completion of his first mission, Carter logged 120 hours in space.
At the time of his death, Captain Carter was assigned as a mission specialist on the crew of STS-42, the first International Microgravity Laboratory (IML-1).
Carter enjoyed wrestling, golf, tennis, L.A. Dodger baseball, and old movies. Carter was a professional soccer player from 1970-73 for the Atlanta Chiefs of the NASL. |
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