His four space shuttle missions include the first orbital flight of Columbia in April 1981 and the second flight of Challenger in June 1983. In 1966 he was selected for the navy's Manned Orbital Laboratory programme, becoming an astronaut in 1969. He became director of the KSC in 1992, vice-president with Lockheed Martin in 1995, and president of Thiokol Propulsion in 1996, before retiring in 2001.