Robert Overmyer was the Pilot for STS-5, the first fully operational flight of the Shuttle program, which launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on November 11, 1982. He was accompanied by spacecraft commander Vance D. Brand and two Mission Specialists, Joseph P. Allen and William B. Lenoir. STS-5, the first mission with a four-man crew, clearly demonstrated the Space Shuttle as fully operational by the successful first deployment of two commercial communications satellites from the orbiter’s payload bay. The mission marked the first use of the Payload Assist Module (PAM-D), and its new ejection system. Numerous flight tests were performed throughout the mission to document Shuttle performance during launch, boost, orbit, atmospheric entry and landing phases. STS-5 was the last flight to carry the Development Flight Instrumentation (DFI) package to support flight testing. A Getaway Special, three Student Involvement Projects and medical experiments were also included on the mission. The STS-5 crew successfully concluded the 5-day orbital flight of Columbia with the first entry and landing through a cloud deck to a hard-surface runway and demonstrated maximum braking. Mission duration was 122 hours before landing on a concrete runway at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on November 16, 1982.

Robert Overmyer was the Commander of STS-51-B, the Spacelab-3 (SL-3) mission. He commanded a crew of four astronauts and two Payload Specialists conducting a broad range of scientific experiments from space physics to the suitability of animal holding facilities. STS-51-B was also the first Shuttle flight to launch a small payload from a “Getaway Special” canister. STS-51-B launched at 12:02 p.m. EDT on April 29, 1985 from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, and landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, at 9:11 a.m. PDT on May 6, 1985. STS-51-B completed 110 orbits of the Earth at an altitude of 190 nautical miles. In 1986, Robert Overmyer was one of NASA’s lead investigators into the Challenger disaster. Overmyer retired from NASA and the Marine Corps in May 1986. Robert Overmyer died in a plane crash on March 22, 1996 near the Duluth International Airport while testing the Cirrus VK-30. He was testing the plane’s wing for full-flap stall recovery characteristics at aft center of gravity limits. Overmyer was interred in Arlington National Cemetery. He is survived by his wife, Katherine, and three children: Carolyn Marie (born 1966), Patricia Ann (born 1968), and Robert Rolandus (born 1970).