Richard Douglas Husband was an American astronaut and fighter pilot. He traveled into space twice: as pilot of STS-96 and commander of STS-107. Husband and the rest of the crew of STS-107 were killed when Columbia disintegrated during reentry into the Earth's atmosphere. He is also a recipient of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.
January 1999 portrait
Pilot (PLT) Rick D. Husband (left) and EVA Specialist Tamara E. Jernigan (right) during STS-96
Commander (CDR) Rick D. Husband (left) and Payload Specialist (PS) Ilan Ramon (right) during STS-107
Statue of Rick Husband at Amarillo International Airport
STS-96 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by Space Shuttle Discovery, and the first shuttle flight to dock[a] at the International Space Station. The shuttle carried the Spacehab module in the payload, filled with cargo for station outfitting. STS-96 launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 27 May 1999 at 06:49:42 AM EDT and returned to Kennedy on 6 June 1999, 2:02:43 AM EDT.
Jernigan outside Unity, during the mission's only EVA
Left to right - Front row: Rominger, Ochoa, Husband; Back row: Barry, Payette, Tokarev, JerniganSpace Shuttle program← STS-88 (93)STS-93 (95) →
Illustration of the International Space Station (ISS) during Space Shuttle flight STS-96
Integrated Cargo Carrier (ICC), with among other the Russian cargo crane "STRELA", which was mounted on the ISS