... Gerhard THIELE . Flight Engineer-1 . ... During the STS-55/Spacelab D-2 Mission (from April 26 to May 6, 1993) Thiele performed the co-ordinator functions for communication with the crew and served as alternate payload specialist in the Payload Operations Control Center of DLR at Oberpfaffenhofen. ... German Astronaut Gerhard Thiele, mission specialist presenting the European Space Agency during his first space flight onboard the Endeavour Shuttle (STS-99) at a period of February 11-22, 2000. ...