Commander of 1st flight of space shuttle Challenger dies
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October 25, 2017
PHOENIX (AP) — Paul Weitz, a retired NASA astronaut who commanded the first flight of the space shuttle Challenger and also piloted the Skylab in the early 1970s, has died. He was 85.
Weitz died at his retirement home in Flagstaff, Arizona, on Monday, said Laura Cutchens of the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation. No cause of death was given.
A NASA biography says Weitz was among the class of 19 astronauts who were chosen in April 1966. He served as command module pilot on the first crew of the orbiting space laboratory known as Skylab during a 28-day mission in 1973.
Weitz also commanded the fir...
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