Astronaut

Alabama Public Radio is observing forty years on the air in 2022. The APR news team is diving into our archives to bring you encore airings of the best of our coverage. So far this month, we’ve featured stories with a space theme. July was the month, back in 1969, when Apollo 11 landed on the moon. Not all of APR’s NASA related coverage has been upbeat. This archive story by Pat Duggins from last year involves a former astronaut and the death of two sisters in Tuscaloosa.

A five time Space Shuttle astronaut is now a convicted felon. James Halsell stood before a Tuscaloosa County judge and pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter in the 2016 traffic crash that killed two young girls. APR has been following the case from the beginning. It was a shock to observers of the space program and a long wait for justice for the victim’s family.

A former space shuttle commander has pleaded not guilty in a fatal wreck that killed two girls in Alabama.Court records show 60-year-old James Halsell Jr.…