APOLLO ASTRONAUT TO GET NASA HONOR VANCE BRAND TO BE RECOGNIZED.Byline: Daily News TEHACHAPI - Former NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. astronaut Vance Brand is being honored by the nation's aerospace agency as an Ambassador of Exploration for his involvement in the Apollo space program Apollo space program: see space exploration. in the 1960s and early 1970s. Brand, a Tehachapi resident who still serves NASA as the deputy associate director of programs at the Dryden Flight Research Center The Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC), located inside Edwards Air Force Base, is an aeronautical research center operated by NASA. On March 26, 1976 it was named in honor of the late Hugh L. at Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. , will be the focus of ceremonies on Friday in his hometown of Longmont, Colo. The award is a small sample of lunar material encased en·case tr.v. en·cased, en·cas·ing, en·cas·es To enclose in or as if in a case. en·case  ment n. in Lucite and mounted for public display. The material is part of the 842 pounds of samples brought back to Earth during the six Apollo lunar expeditions from 1969 to 1972. As part of the ceremonies, Brand will present the lunar sample to the Longmont Museum & Cultural Center for display. ``The rock selected for Longmont's museum is from the Hadley Rille rille (rĭl): see moon. area of the moon that was picked up on Apollo 15,'' Brand said. ``I picked that because I was backup command module pilot for that mission.'' An aerospace engineer and test pilot who has logged more than 9,700 flying hours, Brand was one of the 19 pilot-astronauts selected by NASA in April 1966, and went into space four times: first on an Apollo-Soyuz flight in 1975, and later on three shuttle flights. A support crewman on Apollo 8 and 13, Brand also was backup commander for Skylabs 3 and 4. After the conclusion of the Apollo moon-landing program, Brand was command module pilot with the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project was the first joint flight of the U.S. and Soviet space programs. The mission took place in July 1975. For the United States of America, it was the last Apollo flight, as well as the last manned space launch until the flight of the first Space Shuttle in 1975. This joint American and Russian mission was the first International Manned Space flight. Brand was also mission commander for three space shuttle flights from 1982 to 1990, commanding missions on both the shuttles Columbia and Challenger. He has logged 746 hours in space. Brand has held a variety of management positions since transferring to NASA Dryden in 1994. NASA is presenting the Ambassador of Exploration Award to 38 astronauts who participated in the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space programs from 1961 to 1972. The awards are intended to recognize the contributions of America's first generation of astronauts. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) BRAND |
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