Lot #6404

STS-8 Medical Checklist [Attested Flown] - From the Personal Collection of William E. Thornton

Description

William E. Thornton’s STS-8 medical checklist—a working record of NASA’s early Shuttle-era space medicine

Complete ring-bound STS-8 "Medical C/L," attested as flown on the Space Shuttle Challenger from August 30, 1983–September 5, 1983, totaling over 162 pages, separated into 23 tabbed sections. The first part of the checklist contains numerous instructions and diagrams for various medical devices and procedures, with tabs for "Emergencies," "Lab Med," "Illustrations," "Med Kit Stowage," "MS3 Planning Guide," "Medical DSOs," and "Student Experiments."

The second half of the book contains over 30 pages with handwritten notations recording medical data and experimental observations, documenting physical exams, auditory evoked potential (AEP) testing, urine and blood samples, and other related items. The checklist features a Beta cloth "Medical C/L" binding and retains its restraining lanyard and pencil holder. Two Velcro swatches are affixed to the back cover, with a third swatch present but detached. In overall very good to fine condition, with expected wear from use, and some scattered staining. Accompanied by an original color 8 x 10 blue-numbered NASA photo of Thornton conducting a biomedical experiment during STS-8, with the medical checklist seen by his leg.

STS-8 formed part of NASA's expanding effort to understand the physiological effects of spaceflight as Shuttle missions began carrying increasingly sophisticated biomedical experiments. William E. Thornton, a physician and NASA scientist-astronaut since 1967, investigated problems such as space adaptation syndrome, cardiovascular response, fluid shifts, vestibular/balance function, and other changes caused by weightlessness. The mission also employed detailed blood, urine, and physical-examination protocols to track how astronauts' bodies changed in orbit. This work extended research Thornton had pursued since joining NASA and helped establish procedures and datasets that informed later Shuttle and long-duration human spaceflight medicine.

Attested as flown by the William E. Thornton estate.

From the William E. Thornton Collection.

Auction Info

• Auction Title: Space Exploration
• Dates:
  Starts:

  09/25/2026
  Ends:

  10/22/2026