And he denies that it will replace the carrier or piloted missions any time soon.
Piloted missions to these primitive bodies were first discussed in the 1960s, pairing Saturn V rockets with enhanced Apollo spacecraft to explore what were then called "Earth-approaching asteroids".
The young Chinese pilot's mission was still ringing in his ears.
Francis Scobee; pilot Michael Smith; mission specialists Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair; payload specialist Gregory Jarvis; and "teacher in space" Christa McAuliffe.
Robert L. Curbeam Jr. of the Navy, and Thomas D. Jones, a former Air Force pilot, all mission specialists and veteran space fliers.
The crew comprised commander Rick Husband; pilot William McCool; mission specialists Michael Anderson, David Brown, Kalpana Chawla, and Laurel Clark; and payload specialist Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut.
Other members of the crew were commander Francis (Dick) Scobee, pilot Michael Smith, mission specialists Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, and Ronald McNair, and Hughes Aircraft engineer Gregory Jarvis.
Bryant, together with a pilot and mission coordinator who formed the other two members of his team, tracked the group for several hours from their computers outside Las Vegas.
Why, then, does everyone who flies on the space shuttle receive astronaut wings, even though only two people pilot each mission?
Editor's Note: The following is a letter written to the Coastline Pilot by Mission Viejo resident Barryn Vaughn.
