Karol J. Bobko Donald E. Williams M. Rhea Seddon Jeffrey A. Hoffman S. David Griggs Charles D. Walker Sen E. Jake Garn
Launch:
April 12, 1985
Landing:
April 19, 1985
Duration:
6 days, 23 hours
Comment:
First flight of an elected official (Garn)
This Valsalva device - basically a raised foam fixture that can be used to block the nostrils to clear the ears - was removed post-flight from Jeffrey Hoffman's EMU helmet to be discarded. Hoffman donned his helmet and spacesuit during STS-51D for an unscheduled spacewalk that called for David Griggs and him to attach a "flyswatter" device to the end of the robot arm in an attempt to activate a switch on the Syncom satellite that was deployed on the mission.
