I’ve looked at space shuttle flight STS-67 several times but didn’t really know what I was looking for and maybe I still don‘t. One theory is that it was scheduled to reflect when I visited the Saturn moon Phoebe on 6/7/76. There is also the theory that I first flew a jet aircraft in 1967. And then there is the theory that I was covertly assigned to lead the strike on the Osirak facility on 6/7/81.
STS-67
Launch: March 2, 1995
Landing: March 18, 1995
The period 3/3/59 to 3/2/95 was 35.9 years.
The commander of space shuttle flight STS-67 was born 6/30/1951. That was 359 months, 8 days, before 6/7/81, the date of the Osirak strike in Iraq. According to Rodger Claire's "Raid On The Sun," about the strike on Osiak, there were 8 F-16's Falcon's jets that bombed the facility. I assume there were actually 9 Falcon's and I was flying one of those 9.
Stephen Scot Oswald, a NASA Astronaut.
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Born June 30, 1951, in Seattle, Washington, but considers Bellingham, Washington, to be his hometown
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Mission(s) STS-42, STS-56, STS-67
The pilot of space shuttle flight STS-67 turned 1959 weeks, 3 days, old on 11/29/94. That was precisely 3 months before the launch of STS-67.
William George "Borneo" Gregory (b. May 14, 1957) is a former NASA astronaut. He also a retired air force lieutenant colonel.
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Gregory served as the STS-67 pilot on the seven-person astronomical research mission aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Launching from the Kennedy Space Center on March 2, 1995, and landing at Edwards AFB on March 18, 1995, the crew established a new mission duration record of 16 days, 15 hours, 8 minutes and 46 seconds
The first space shuttle flight this astronaut made was STS-67 flight and his next flight was on STS-81. That combination makes me think of the date 6/7/81, the date of the Osirak strike in Iraq. There is also a clue to his birthday.
John Mace Grunsfeld (Ph.D.) (born October 10, 1958) is an American astronaut, a veteran of five spaceflights, and served as NASA Chief Scientist.
Mission(s) STS-67, STS-81, STS-103, STS-109
This next STS-67 astronaut was born 5/24/51, according to the linked article. From his birth date, 3 weeks, 359 months was 5/15/81. From there, 2 days, 3 weeks, later was 6/7/81, the date of the Osirak strike.
Ronald Anthony Parise, Ph.D., (May 24, 1951— ) is a NASA astronaut and payload specialist.
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STS-67/Astro-2 Endeavor (March 2–18, 1995). This was the second flight of the Astro observatory. During this record-setting 16-day mission, the crew conducted observations around the clock to study the far ultraviolet spectra of faint astronomical objects and the polarization of ultraviolet light coming from hot stars and distant galaxies.
This is why Wally Simpson at Microsoft told me he had a music degree from some college. Wally was one of three guys that started at Microsoft around the same time I did. The four of us were sent down to Las Colinas, Texas, in our first month or so for training for Microsoft Premier for Enterprise. I also remember that USS Simpson was one of three ships in a Surface Action Group in the Persian Gulf in 1988. The fourth unit of that group, from what I read on the internet, was a SEAL platoon. Of the four of us that Microsoft sent to Texas in early 1999, another one was named Jeff Johnson. Recently I noted that he resembles a photo I saw of a guy that worked as an anchor on a news television show. I started thinking that I used to be married to the woman that co-anchored that television program. The third guy at Microsoft told me he was Vietnam veteran. There was also that woman named Laura Mason who was assigned as my mentor around that time. She told me she was a Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserves and a crew person on the EA-6 Prowler aircraft, which is a variation of the A-6 Intruder.
The namesake for the USS Cole DDG-67 was born 7/20/1920. From his birth, 59 years, 3 months, later was 10/23/79 and 593 days later from there was 6/7/81. The date 6/7/81 was the strike on the Osirak facility in Iraq.
The USS Cole was struck by terrorists on 10/12/2000. The 9/11/2001 terrorist attack on New York was 334 days later. The USS Stark was struck by an anti-ship missile on 5/17/87 and 333 days later was 4/14/88, the day the USS Samuel B. Roberts struck an anti-ship mine in the Persian Gulf.
The second USS Cole (DDG 67) is an Arleigh Burke class Aegis-equipped guided missile destroyer homeported in NS Norfolk, Virginia. The Cole is named in honor of Marine Sergeant Darrell S. Cole, a machine-gunner killed in action on Iwo Jima on 19 February 1945.
Sergeant Darrell Samuel Cole (20 July 1920 – 19 February 1945) was a US Marine during World War II. Sergeant Cole was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his conspicuous gallantry in the campaign at Iwo Jima.
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…He continued to build his reputation as "The Fighting Field Musician."
The movie “Top Gun” was released on 5/16/86, where that particular date was probably the result of being constrained to release on a Friday. The date 5/16/86 was 3 months, 2 days, after 2/14/86. I have found myself thinking a lot about that scene in the movie where the rescue swimmer tells "Maverick" that he has to let go of "Goose." About 6 months later is when I think they had a funeral for me at Arlington National Cemetery.
Update:
Counting the number of days from 6/7/81 to 6/7/96, the day USS Cole DDG-67 was commissioned, was 5480 days. The difference of 5933 - a number selected in this case simply for the symbolic value - and 5479 is 453.
The number of days from 2/14/86 to 5/13/87 was 453 days. That first day is when I think I was shot down and the second day is when I think I completed my escape back to the U.S. Navy.
