yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) (12/20/90)
Mark Hess/Ed Campion
Headquarters, Washington, D.C. December 19, 1990
(Phone: 202/453-8536)
Jack Riley
Johnson Space Center, Houston
(Phone: 713/483-5111)
RELEASE: 90-163
NASA ANNOUNCES CREW MEMBERS FOR FUTURE SPACE SHUTTLE FLIGHTS
NASA today announced crew members for future Space Shuttle
flights STS-48 Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS), STS-46
Tethered Satellite Systems, STS-49 Intelsat and STS-50 U.S.
Microgravity Laboratory (USML-1).
STS-48 UARS, scheduled for launch Nov. 1991, is a mission to
study the Earth's upper atmosphere on a global scale. Nine UARS
sensors will provide comprehensive data on energy inputs, winds
and chemical composition of the stratosphere. Crew members are:
Commander: John O. Creighton, Capt. USN
Pilot: Kenneth S. Reightler, Jr., Cdr. USN
Mission Specialists: James F. Buchli, Col. USMC
Mark N. Brown, Col. USAF
Charles D. "Sam" Gemar, Maj. USA
Creighton, 47, was born in Orange, Texas, and received his
bachelor of science from the U.S. Naval Academy and master of
science in administration of science and technology from George
Washington University. He was pilot on STS-51G and commander on
STS-36.
Reightler, 39, was born at Patuxent River Naval Air Station,
Md., and received his bachelor of science in aerospace
engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy; master of science in
aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School
and master of science in systems management from the University
of Southern California. He was selected as a pilot astronaut in
1987, and this is his first Shuttle mission.
Buchli, 45, was born in New Rockford, N.D., and received his
bachelor of science in aeronautical engineering from the U.S.
Naval Academy and master of science in aeronautical engineering
systems from the University of West Florida. He has flown on
STS-51C, STS-61A and STS-29.
Brown, 39, was born in Valparaiso, Ind., and received his
bachelor of science in aeronautical and astronautical engineering
from Purdue University and master of science in astronautical
engineering from the U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology. He
flew on STS-28.
Gemar, 35, was born in Yankton, S.D., and received his
bachelor of science in engineering from the U.S. Military
Academy. He flew on STS-38.
STS-46 TS, scheduled for March 1992, is a tethered satellite
which will be deployed from the orbiter payload bay on an
approximately 12-mile tether where it will collect electrodynamic
data in the upper reaches of the Earth's atmosphere. Also, the
European Retrievable Carrier (EURECA), a free-flying reusable
platform dedicated to material science and life science
experiments, will be deployed. Crew members are:
Commander: Loren J. Shriver, Col. USAF
Pilot: James D. Wetherbee, Cdr. USN
Mission Specialists: Andrew M. Allen, Maj. USMC
STS-46 Mission Specialists previously named: Franklin R. Chang-
Diaz, Ph.D.; Jeffrey A. Hoffman, Ph.D.; Claude Nicollier, ESA
Astronaut
Payload Specialist: A prime and backup payload specialist will
be selected from the two announced candidates: Umberto Guidoni,
Italy and Franco Malerba, Italy
Shriver, 46, was born in Jefferson, Iowa, and received his
bachelor of science in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Air
Force Academy and master of science in astronautical engineering
from Purdue University. He was pilot on STS-51C and commander on
STS-31.
Wetherbee, 38, was born in Flushing, N.Y., and received his
bachelor of science in aerospace engineering from the University
of Notre Dame. He was pilot on STS-32.
Allen, 35, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., and received his
bachelor of science in mechanical engineering from Villanova
University. He was selected as a pilot astronaut in 1987, and
this is his first Shuttle mission.
STS-49 Intelsat, scheduled for launch in May 1992, is a
flight on which crew members will attach a new booster and
redeploy the Intelsat satellite. Additionally, three spacewalks
will be performed in an extensive test of techniques to be
employed during assembly of Space Station Freedom. This will be
the first flight for the new orbiter Endeavour. Crew members
are:
Commander: Daniel C. Brandenstein, Capt. USN
Pilot: Kevin P. Chilton, Maj. USAF
Mission Specialists: Pierre J. Thuot, Cdr. USN; Kathryn C.
Thornton, Ph.D.; Richard J. Hieb; Thomas D. Akers, Maj. USAF;
Bruce E. Melnick, Cdr. USCG
Brandenstein, 47, was born in Watertown, Wis., and received
his bachelor of science in mathematics and physics from the
University of Wisconsin at River Falls. He was pilot on STS-8
and commander on STS-51G and STS-32.
Chilton, 36, was born in Los Angeles, Calif., and received
his bachelor of science in engineering sciences from the U.S. Air
Force Academy and master of science in mechanical engineering
from Columbia University. He was selected as a pilot astronaut
in 1987, and this is his first Shuttle mission.
Thuot, 35, was born in Groton , Conn., and received his
bachelor of science in physics from the U.S. Naval Academy and
master of science in systems management from the University of
Southern California. He flew on STS-36.
Thornton, 38, was born in Montgomery, Ala., and received her
bachelor of science from Auburn University, master of science and
doctorate of philosophy in physics from the University of
Virginia. She flew on STS-33.
Hieb, 35, was born in Jamestown, N.D., and received his
bachelor of arts in mathematics and physics from Northwest
Nazarene College and master of science in aerospace engineering
from the University of Colorado. He is scheduled to fly on STS-
39 in March 1991.
Akers, 39, was born in St. Louis, Mo., and received his
bachelor and master of science in applied mathematics from
University of Missouri-Rolla. He flew on STS-41.
Melnick, 41, was born in New York, N.Y., and received his
bachelor of science in engineering from the U.S. Coast Guard
Academy and master of science in aeronautical systems from the
University of West Florida. He flew on STS-41.
STS-50 USML-1, scheduled for June 1992, is a complement of
microgravity materials processing technology experiments to be
flown on the first extended duration orbiter mission aboard
Columbia. This mission is planned for a 13-day duration, the
longest Shuttle mission to date. Crew members are:
Commander: Richard N. Richards, Capt. USN
Pilot: John H. Casper, Col. USAF
Mission Specialists: Kenneth D. Bowersox, Lt. Cdr. USN
Bonnie J. Dunbar, Ph.D. Payload Commander (previously named)
Carl J. Meade, Lt. Col. USAF
Payload Specialists: Two prime and two backup will be selected
from the announced candidates: Lawrence J. DeLucas, Ph.D.;
Joseph M. Prahl, Ph.D.; Albert Sacco, Jr., Ph.D.; Eugene H.
Trinh, Ph.D.
Richards, 44, was born in Key West, Fla., and received his
bachelor of science in chemical engineering from the University
of Missouri and master of science in aeronautical systems from
the University of West Florida. He was pilot on STS-28 and
commander on STS-41.
Casper, 47, was born in Greenville, S.C., and received his
bachelor of science in engineering science from the U.S. Air
Force Academy and master of science in astronautics from Purdue
University. He was a pilot on STS-36.
Bowersox, 34, was born in Portsmouth, Va., and received his
bachelor of Science in aerospace engineering from the U.S. Naval
Academy and master of science in mechanical engineering from
Columbia University. He was selected as a pilot astronaut in
1987, and this is his first Shuttle mission.
Meade, 40, was born at Chanute AFB, Ill., and received his
bachelor of science in electrical engineering from the University
of Texas where he participated in plasma dynamics research and
master of science in electronics engineering from the California
Institute of Technology as a Hughes Fellow doing research
involving the application of information theory to
neurophysiology. He flew on STS-38.rose@beowulf.ucsd.edu (Dan Rose) (12/21/90)
yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) writes: >...NASA ANNOUNCES CREW MEMBERS FOR FUTURE SPACE SHUTTLE FLIGHTS... >Commander: John O. Creighton, Capt. USN >Pilot: Kenneth S. Reightler, Jr., Cdr. USN ... >Commander: Loren J. Shriver, Col. USAF >Pilot: James D. Wetherbee, Cdr. USN ... >Commander: Daniel C. Brandenstein, Capt. USN >Pilot: Kevin P. Chilton, Maj. USAF ... >Commander: Richard N. Richards, Capt. USN >Pilot: John H. Casper, Col. USAF A question inspired by these crew lists: Have there been any civilians -- I mean people who have *no* military experience -- as pilot-astronauts for the shuttle program? I vaguely remember that there were a few civilian astronauts before the shuttle, but that was before they had the pilot / mission specialist distinction. Related but even more pointless questions to keep the server from rejecting this letter: Which branch of the service has produced the most astronauts? -- Dan Rose {ucbvax,decvax,akgua,dcdwest}!sdcsvax!beowulf!rose.uucp UC San Diego rose%cs@ucsd.edu
henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) (12/28/90)
In article <rose.661720444@beowulf> rose@beowulf.ucsd.edu (Dan Rose) writes: >A question inspired by these crew lists: Have there been any >civilians -- I mean people who have *no* military experience -- >as pilot-astronauts for the shuttle program? ... To date, no. The pilot-astronaut qualifications basically say "lots of fast-jet pilot-in-command time", which is awfully hard to get without a military flying career. There are a few civilian fast-jet test pilots -- e.g., Neil Armstrong was a civilian -- but they invariably learned to fly in the military. -- "The average pointer, statistically, |Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology points somewhere in X." -Hugh Redelmeier| henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry