Rick Husband
A calm and devout Air Force colonel who commanded the final, tragic flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia, remembered for his leadership and faith.
1957–2003 (age 46)·American astronaut·Birthday: July 12·Baby Boomers
Biography
Rick Husband’s path was charted by a childhood dream of flight, a pursuit he followed with quiet intensity and deep Christian faith. A skilled test pilot and colonel in the U.S. Air Force, he joined NASA in 1995, bringing a steady, collaborative demeanor to the astronaut corps. His first mission, STS-96 in 1999, was a historic docking with the International Space Station, a complex ballet of machinery that he piloted flawlessly. He was entrusted with command of STS-107, a multidisciplinary science mission aboard Columbia. For 16 days in 2003, Husband and his crew worked tirelessly in orbit, their camaraderie captured in downlinked videos. His final communication as Columbia began its fatal re-entry was characteristically professional. The loss was a national trauma, but Husband’s legacy endures as a symbol of exploration’s risks and the profound character of those who accept them.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Rick was born in 1957, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Rick Was Born
The biggest hits of 1957
#1 Movie
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Best Picture
The Bridge on the River Kwai
#1 TV Show
Gunsmoke
Rick's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1957Born
Sputnik launches the Space Age
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $10,550Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"All Shook Up" — Elvis PresleyBest Picture: The Bridge on the River Kwai
1962Started school
Cuban Missile Crisis brings the world to the brink
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,800Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Stranger on the Shore" — Acker BilkBest Picture: Lawrence of Arabia
1970Became a teenager
First Earth Day; The Beatles break up
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $17,000Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Bridge over Troubled Water" — Simon & GarfunkelBest Picture: Patton
1973Could drive
US withdraws from Vietnam; Roe v. Wade decided
Gas: $0.39/galHome: $22,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" — Tony Orlando & DawnBest Picture: The Sting
1975Could vote
Fall of Saigon ends the Vietnam War
Gas: $0.57/galHome: $27,600Min wage: $2.10/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Love Will Keep Us Together" — Captain & TennilleBest Picture: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1978Turned 21
First test-tube baby born
Gas: $0.63/galHome: $35,300Min wage: $2.65/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Shadow Dancing" — Andy GibbBest Picture: The Deer Hunter
1987Turned 30
Black Monday stock market crash
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $72,400Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Walk Like an Egyptian" — The BanglesBest Picture: The Last Emperor
1997Turned 40
Princess Diana dies in Paris car crash; Harry Potter published
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $104,100Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Candle in the Wind 1997" — Elton JohnBest Picture: Titanic
2003Died at 46
US invades Iraq; Human Genome Project completed
Gas: $1.59/galHome: $146,000Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"In Da Club" — 50 CentBest Picture: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Key Achievements
- Commanded the STS-107 mission aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia.
- Piloted the STS-96 mission, the first shuttle docking with the International Space Station.
- Awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor posthumously in 2004.
Did You Know?
He was an accomplished singer and performed with the Houston Masterworks Chorus.
A devout Christian, he helped start a Bible study group for astronauts at NASA.
An airport in his hometown of Amarillo, Texas, was renamed Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport in his honor.
“'Lord, I pray that you would give me the wisdom and the courage to be a good commander on this flight.'”
