Mike Smith (Louisiana politician)

Greg Jarvis, another part-timer, would ultimately draw aChallenger slot when Congressman Bill Nelson bumped him from STS-61C. I donБЂ™t blame Nelson or Abbey or anybody else for how the chips fell on theChallenger crew composition. Only God can explain the how and why of that. In fact, many months prior toChallenger, Mike Smith was named as a backup to a mission pilot who was suffering a potentially career-ending health problem. That pilot recovered and Smith wasnБЂ™t needed. But had the sick pilotБЂ™s convalescence taken just a few more weeks, Mike would have flown on the earlier mission and another pilot would have died onChallenger. I congratulated Judy and the others at their Outpost celebration. With a gold pin in my bureau drawer it was easy to be sincere. No more fake smiles. Still, I felt a touch of envy. The 51L crew would be deploying an IUS fitted with a NASA communication satellite. The Boeing engineers had finally fixed that booster rocket so Judy had a proven payload. It was one less thing to get in the way of her launch date ...»