A look back at Utahns in space

(Courtesy of NASA)


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SALT LAKE CITY — Multiple astronauts have claimed Utah as their home.

With companies like Orbital ATK based in the state, Utah has long played a significant role in space exploration. As recently as March, the launch systems that power NASA’s shuttles have been tested in the desert.

However, technology is not the only thing from Utah to have reached outer space. Here is a look back at astronauts from Utah.

Senator Jake Garn =================

Time spent in space: 167 hours

Garn, who was born in Richfield in 1932, was still serving as one of Utah’s U.S. Senators when he flew on the STS-51D Discovery as a payload specialist in April 1985. He was the first member of Congress to fly in space, according to NASA.

A former U.S. Navy pilot, Garn logged more than 10,000 hours flying military and private aircraft before being selected to join the Discovery team. However, he still became famously sick while in space. To this day, people at NASA reportedly use the “Garn scale” to measure how sick someone is.

For his part, Garn maintains that even though he was sick, he never lost his lunch on the flight.

"Nauseous Jake Garn, but not barfin' Jake Garn. But my grandkids were pleased that grandpa was in the funny papers, so it's fine,” Garn told KSL in 2005. “And believe me, to get to go again, I'd throw up every day just to go into space again."

Garn pictured in the back row, first person on the right. Photo credit: NASA

Don Leslie Lind ===============

Time spent in space: 168 hours

Lind was born in Midvale in 1930 and graduated from Jordan High School before going on to study at the University of Utah, according to NASA. He started working at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in 1964 as a space physicist and was selected as an astronaut in 1966, but didn’t make it into space until much later.

When Lind served as a mission scientist for the Spacelab shuttle Challenger in April 1985, newspapers like the Los Angeles Times noted how he had waited 19 years for the trip. He was 54 years old at the time of the flight.

“I was quite surprised how calm I felt as we were getting in the space shuttle ready for takeoff,” he told the Mormon Channel in 2011. “When you hear the engines light off and you feel that first surge of power it’s total euphoria. It’s like going to the birth of your first child, the first time you ever went to the circus, every exciting thing that ever happening in your life happening simultaneously."

Lind pictured in the back row, first person on the left. Photo credit: NASA

Bonus astronaut with Utah ties:

Mary L. Cleave ==============

Time spent in space: 262 hours

Cleave was born in New York in 1947, but obtained her master of science in microbial ecology and doctorate in civil and environmental engineering from Utah State University in the mid-1970s. She spent about nine years conducting research in the state on topics like the productivity of phytoplankton and algal components, according to NASA.

After being selected as an astronaut in 1980, Cleave had the opportunity to go into space twice. She served as a mission specialist on both the STS-61B Atlantis in 1985 and STS-30 Atlantis in 1989, orbiting the Earth a total of 172 times.

“It’s like camping. That’s what it’s like going in a shuttle,” Cleave told USU students in 2012. “We were up there for Thanksgiving and Jerry Ross (a crew member) insisted that he sit on the ceiling for Thanksgiving dinner because he would never get to do that again.”

Cleave pictured in middle of back row. Photo credit: NASA

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