- Richard Mullane
Infobox Astronaut
name =Richard Michael "Mike" Mullane"'
type =NASA Astronaut
status =Retired
nationality =American
date_birth =Birth date and age|1945|9|10
place_birth =Wichita Falls, Texas
occupation =Navigator/Weapons System Officer/Astronaut
rank =Colonel , USAF
selection =1978 NASA Group
time =14d 20h 20m
mission =STS-41-D ,STS-27 ,STS-36
insignia =|Richard Michael "Mike" Mullane is a retired USAF officer and a former
NASA astronaut .Personal
Mullane was born
September 10 ,1945 , inWichita Falls, Texas , but considersAlbuquerque, New Mexico , to be his hometown. He graduated from St. Pius X Catholic High School, Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1963, then received aBachelor of Science degree inMilitary Engineering from theUnited States Military Academy in 1967 and was awarded aMaster of Science degree inAeronautical Engineering from theAir Force Institute of Technology in 1975. He is a member of theAir Force Association .Awards and honors
*
Air Medal s (6)
*Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross
*Meritorious Service Medal
*Vietnam Campaign Medal
*National Defense Service Medal
*Vietnam Service Medal
*Air Force Commendation Medal
*NASA Space Flight Medal s
*Distinguished Graduate of the USAF Navigator Training School (and recipient of its Commander's Trophy), the USAF Institute of Technology, and the USAF Test Pilot School.Military career
Mullane, an Air Force Colonel, was graduated from West Point in 1967. He completed 134 combat missions as an RF-4C weapon system operator while stationed at
Tan Son Nhut Air Base ,Vietnam , from January to November 1969. He subsequently served a 4-year tour of duty, inEngland . In July 1976, upon completing the USAF Flight Test Engineer Course atEdwards Air Force Base ,California , he was assigned as a flight test weapon system operator to the 3246th Test Wing atEglin Air Force Base ,Florida .NASA career
Selected by NASA in January 1978, Mullane became an astronaut in August 1979. He flew on three
Space Shuttle missions, serving as a mission specialist on the crew ofSTS-41-D in August 1984, onSTS-27 in December 1988, and onSTS-36 in March 1990.On his first mission Mullane served as a Mission Specialist on the crew of STS-41-D which launched from
Kennedy Space Center , Florida, onAugust 30 , 1984. This was the maiden flight of theOrbiter Discovery. During this seven-day mission the crew successfully activated the OAST-1solar cell wing experiment, deployed threesatellite s, operated the CFES-III experiment, the studentcrystal growth experiment, andphotography experiments using theIMAX motion picturecamera . STS 41-D completed 96 orbits of the Earth in 145 hours before landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, onSeptember 5 ,1984 .Mullane then flew aboard the Orbiter Atlantis, on STS-27, which launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on
December 2 , 1988. The mission carried a Department of Defense (DOD) payload, as well as a number of secondary payloads. After 68 orbits of the earth, the mission concluded with a dry lakebed landing on Runway 17 at Edwards Air Force Base, California, onDecember 6 ,1988 . Mission duration was 105 hours.On his third flight, Mullane served on the crew of STS-36 which launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on
February 28 , 1990, aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis. This mission carried DOD payloads and a number of secondary payloads. After 72 orbits of the earth, the STS-36 mission concluded with a lakebed landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, onMarch 4 ,1990 .With the completion of his third flight, Mullane logged a total of 356 hours in space. He retired from NASA and the Air Force in 1990.
Missions
*
STS-41D "Space ShuttleDiscovery " launched August 30, 1984
*STS-27 "Space ShuttleAtlantis " launched December 2, 1988
*STS-36 "Space ShuttleAtlantis " launched February 28, 1990Bibliography
*"Riding Rockets: The Outrageous Tales of a Space Shuttle Astronaut" Publisher: Scribner ISBN 0-7432-7682-5
*"Red Sky: A Novel of Love, Space, & War" (
technothriller /hard sf novel) Publisher:Northwest Publishing ISBN 1-569-01111-7*"Do Your Ears Pop in Space and 500 Other Surprising Questions about Space Travel" Publisher:
Wiley ISBN 0-471-15404-0*"Liftoff!: An Astromaut's Dream" Publisher:
Silver Burdett Press ISBN 0-382-24664-0Trivia
*Mullane appeared on the U.S. television show "
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart " on Monday,February 13 ,2006 to promote his book "Riding Rockets ".External links
* [http://www.mikemullane.com/ Homepage]
* [http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/persons/astronauts/m-to-p/MullaneRM.txt Source]
* [http://us.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/01/17/shuttle.astronaut.reut/index.html Astronaut questions shuttle safety in book]
* [http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/astronauts/english/mullane_richard.htm Spacefacts biography of Richard Mullane]
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