Vance D. Brand
Aeronautical Engineering
Government Service

Vance D. Brand's career links two eras. It reflects the change from the early exploration of space to the development of space as a resource.

Nearly seven years ago, Mr. Brand was a member of the last mission in which American astronauts were blasted into space in a capsule atop a rocket. As a Space Shuttle commander he is scheduled to go into space again next November. The purpose of the mission will be to deploy two commercial communications satellites from the Space Shuttle in low earth orbit and to continue the Shuttle flight test program.

His mission of seven years ago culminated in a spark of U.S.-Soviet amity as the Apollo spacecraft docked with the Russian Soyuz vehicle and a crew-member joined the Russian cosmonauts for an orbital dinner of cabbage soup and dried fish. On earth, President Gerald Ford and Russian Ambassador Anatole Dobrynin watched amid mutual congratulations as the Russians telecast for the first time the launching of one of their space shots. One result of the mission was the joint development of a unique new docking system, with which stranded spacefarers of either nation could, in theory, be rescued by a spacecraft from the other.

Born in Longmont, Colorado on May 9, 1931, Brand is the son of Dr. and Mrs. Rudolf W. Brand. He graduated from Longmont High School and earned a B.S. degree from CU in 1953, entering the U.S. Marine Corps to become a military pilot and serve until 1957. Returning to CU, he earned a B.S. degree in aeronautical engineering in 1960.

While working as a flight test engineer for Lockheed Aircraft, he graduated from U.S. Naval Test Pilot School and earned an M.S. degree in business from the University of California in 1964. When he was selected for the astronaut program in 1966, he was serving as an experimental test pilot and the leader of a Lockheed flight test advisory group for the West German F-104F Flight Test Center at Istres, France. He has been checked out to fly more than 30 types of military aircraft, including helicopters. As an astronaut he was chosen as a backup member for the Apollo 15 and two Skylab missions before being selected for the climactic Apollo-Soyuz flight.

The Longmont astronaut has maintained his interest in CU and has returned several times for talks to students and prospective engineers. He is a professional engineer registered in Texas, a fellow of the American Astronautical Society, an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and an associate fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.

He has been honored with awards that include the Exceptional Service Administration, the Wright Brothers International Manned Space Flight Award, the University of Colorado Alumnus of the Century Award, and many others.

Mr. Brand, his wife Beverly and their family reside in Houston, Texas.

University of Colorado alumni who have also become astronauts include M. Scott Carpenter, who made America's second space flight in the Mercury-Atlas space vehicle Aurora 7, named for his home on Aurora Street, in Boulder; John L. Swigert, who participated in the Apollo 13 moon mission; Stuart A. Roosa of the Apollo 14 moon mission, and Capt. Ellison Onizuka, who joined the astronaut program in 1978 and is to participate in space flight as a mission specialist.

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