Engineering Memory of the Month

Stanford in space

Between Nov. 28 and Dec. 8, 1983, NASA flew its ninth shuttle mission, STS-9. Aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia were six astronauts including Owen K. Garriott, a former Stanford electrical engineering student (MS 1957, PhD 1960) and professor (1961-1965). As a graduate student here, Garriott tracked signals from the Soviet Union's Sputnik satellite. In 1965, he was selected as one of NASA's first six "scientist-astronauts."

In this NASA photo, Garriott (left) works in Spacelab alongside Ulf Merbold, a German astronaut from the European Space Agency (ESA). The ESA-built Spacelab took its maiden voyage on this flight. The lab occupied the shuttle's cargo bay and gave crew members a number of research capabilities, including the ability to put experimental samples or equipment on to non-pressurized pallets that were directly exposed to space.

Garriott is one of 18 Stanford alumni who have orbited the Earth. Even if you haven’t traveled quite that far, we invite you to share your memories of Stanford Engineering. Scan in your old photos from your school days and send them to David Orenstein, manager, Communications and P.R.