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Ellison Shoji Onizuka (June 24, 1946 - January 28,
1986) was an United States|American astronaut from
Kealakekua, Kona, Hawaii who died during the
explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger|Space
Shuttle Challenger, where he was serving as
mission specialist on mission STS-51-L.

==Early life==

Onizuka graduated from Konawaena High School in
Kealakekua in 1964.  He received a Bachelor's
degree in aerospace engineering in June 1969, and
a Master's in that field in December of the same
year, from the University of Colorado.  At the
University of Colorado, he participated in Air
Force ROTC.

==Air Force career==

In January 1970, Onizuka entered active duty with
the United States Air Force, where he served as a
flight test engineer and as a test pilot.  At the
Sacramento Air Logistics Center at McClellan Air
Force Base, he worked in test flight programs and
systems security engineering for the F-84, F-100,
F-105, F-III, EC-121T, T-33, T-39, T-28, and A-I.

From August 1974 to July 1975, Onizuka attended
the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School.  In July
1975, he was assigned to the Test Flight Center at
Edwards Air Force Base in California.  He became a
squadron test flight engineer at the Test Pilot
School, and later worked as a manager for
engineering support in the training resources
division.  His duties there were based on the
instruction of courses and the management of all
flight test modifications for all of the airship
fleet (A-7, A-37, T-38, F-4, T-33, and NKC-135)
being used for the Test Pilot School and Test
Flight Center.  Onizuka managed to register more
than 1,700 flight hours.

==NASA career==

Onizuka was selected for the astronaut program in
January 1978, and completed one year of evaluation
and training in August 1979.  Later, he worked in
the experimentation team, Orbiter test team, and
launch support crew at the Kennedy Space Center
for the STS-1 and STS-2.  At NASA, he worked on
the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL)
test and revision software team.  He also
collaborated on other technical projects, for
instance, as astronaut crew team coordinator.

His first space mission took place on January 24,
1985, with the Kennedy Space Center launch of
mission STS 51-C on Space Shuttle Discovery, the
first space shuttle mission for the Department of
Defense.  Onizuka was accompanied by the commander
Ken Mattingly, pilot Loren Shriver, fellow mission
specialist James Buchli, and payload specialist
Gary E. Payton.  During the mission, Onizuka was
responsible for the activities of the primary
payloads, which included the unfolding of the
Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) surface.  After 48
orbits around the Earth, Discovery landed at the
Kennedy Space Center on January 27, 1985.  Onizuka
had completed a total of 74 hours in space.

Onizuka was assigned to the mission STS 51-L on
the Space Shuttle Challenger that took off from
Kennedy Space Center at 11:38:00 EST (16:38:00
UTC) on January 28, 1986.  The other Challenger
crew members were commander Dick Scobee, pilot
Michael Smith (astronaut)|Michael Smith, mission
specialists Ronald McNair, Judith Resnik, and
Gregory Jarvis, and payload specialist Christa
McAuliffe.  The seven crew members died instantly
at 73 seconds after launch.  NASA had estimated
that the probability of a catastrophic accident
during launch, the most perilous portion of space
flight, was 1 in 438.

At the time of his death, Onizuka held the rank of
Lieutenant Colonel, and was married with two
children.

==Memberships and distinctions==

Onizuka belonged to the following organizations:
Society of Flight Test Engineers, the Air Force
Association, the American Institute of Aeronautics
and Astronautics, Tau Beta Pi, Sigma Tau, and
Triangle Fraternity.

Among his distinctions are the Air Force Medallion
of Merit, Air Force Service Medallion, Air Force
Organizational Excellence Award, and National
Defense Service Medal.

==Legacy==

Onizuka Air Force Station in Sunnyvale,
California, Onizuka Center for International
Astronomy at the Mauna Kea Observatory and the
Astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka Space Center at Kona
International Airport in Hawaii are named after
him. Also named in his honor in fiction is a
shuttle in Star Trek: The Next Generation, carried
aboard USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D. 

Two astronomy|astronomical features were also
named after him: an asteroid discovered by Edward
L. G. Bowell on February 8, 1984, 3355 Onizuka and
a 29 km diameter Impact crater|crater on the moon,
Onizuka (crater)|Onizuka Crater. Little Tokyo in
Los Angeles, California also has a street named
after him.

The main protagonist of the manga Great Teacher
Onizuka also bears a similar name - Eikichi
Onizuka. It is likely that Eikichi's ability to
withstand most degrees of physical injury may have
been inspired by Ellison's legacy.

==External Links==
*
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/onizuka.html
Official NASA Bio
* http://www.challenger.org/about/onizuka.cfm
Challenger Center bio

==References==
*This article draws heavily on the :es:Ellison
Onizuka|corresponding article in the
Spanish-language Wikipedia, which was accessed in
the version of July 8, 2005.

lived|b=1946|d=1986|key=Onizuka, Ellison