5 Veteran Space Fliers Picked for ’88 Mission

Veteran astronaut Frederick H. Hauck and four other experienced space fliers were named today to blast off aboard Discovery in 1988 for the first shuttle mission since the Challenger disaster, NASA announced.

Discovery is tentatively scheduled for launch Feb. 18, 1988.

Agency Administrator James Fletcher said at a Washington news conference that the next shuttle crew will consist of:

--Hauck, 45, the commander, a veteran of two shuttle missions, including a November, 1984, flight aboard Discovery in which two crippled satellites were rescued and brought back to Earth.

--Richard O. Covey, 40, the co-pilot, who served as co-pilot aboard Discovery for another satellite rescue mission that took off Aug. 27, 1985.

--John M. Lounge, 40, a mission specialist and crew mate of Covey aboard Discovery in August, 1985.

--George D. (Pinky) Nelson, 36, a mission specialist and veteran of two shuttle missions, including a flight aboard Columbia that took off Jan. 12 on the only successful shuttle mission of 1986.

--David C. Hilmers, 36, veteran of a classified military mission aboard Atlantis in October, 1985.

A news conference with the astronauts is scheduled for next Thursday at Johnson Space Center in Houston.

A source close to the program said chief astronaut John W. Young and George Abbey, director of flight crew operations at Johnson Space Center in Houston, informed the astronaut office early today of a crew selection.

When Challenger blew up last Jan. 28, 10 astronaut crews were in training for future missions that later were grounded or canceled. Hauck, Lounge and Hilmers had been in training for a May 15, 1986, flight aboard Challenger.

Shrouded in Secrecy

The crew selection process for the first post-Challenger flight and the names of the astronauts named to fly aboard Discovery have been shrouded in secrecy.

But rumors have been rampant in the agency in recent weeks about who would serve as Discovery’s commander and who the other crew members would be. Speculation had focused on several veteran shuttle fliers for the commander’s slot, including Hauck.

Discovery is scheduled to carry into orbit a $100-million shuttle tracking satellite identical to the one that was destroyed aboard Challenger. NASA has said previously that the mission will last four days.

Landing is scheduled for Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.