Richard Mastracchio

Infobox Astronaut
name =Richard Alan "Rick" Mastracchio


type =NASA Astronaut
status =Active
nationality =American
date_birth =birth date and age|1960|02|11
place_birth =Waterbury, Connecticut
occupation =Engineer
selection =1996 NASA Group
time =24d 13h 06 m
mission =STS-106, STS-118
insignia = |

Richard Alan "Rick" Mastracchio (b. February 11, 1960) is an American engineer and a NASA astronaut.

Personal

Mastracchio was born in Waterbury, Connecticut and graduated from Crosby High School in 1978. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering/computer science from the University of Connecticut in 1982, a Master of Science degree in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1987, and a Master of Science degree in physical science from the University of Houston–Clear Lake in 1991.

He is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

As a member of his town's Pop Warner football team, he once played against John Mastracchio, to whom he is not related.

Career

Rick Mastracchio worked for Hamilton Standard in Connecticut as an engineer in the system design group from 1982 until 1987. During that time, he participated in the development of high performance, strapped-down inertial measurement units and flight control computers.

NASA career

In 1987, Mastracchio moved to Houston, Texas, to work for the Rockwell Shuttle Operations Company at the Johnson Space Center. In 1990, he joined NASA as an engineer in the Flight Crew Operations Directorate. His duties included the development of space shuttle flight software requirements, the verification of space shuttle flight software in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory, and the development of ascent and abort crew procedures for the Astronaut Office.

From 1993 until 1996, he worked as an ascent/entry Guidance and Procedures Officer (GPO) in Mission Control. An ascent/entry GPO has both pre-mission and real time Space Shuttle support responsibilities in the areas of onboard guidance, navigation, and targeting. During that time, he supported seventeen missions as a flight controller.

In April 1996, Mastracchio was selected as an Astronaut Candidate and started training in August 1996. Having completed two years of training and evaluation, he is qualified for flight assignment as a mission specialist. Mastracchio has worked technical issues for the Astronaut Office Computer Support Branch, for Space Station Operations, and the EVA Branch. He next served as lead for cockpit avionics upgrades. Mastracchio flew as a mission specialist on STS-106 and has logged over 283 hours in space.

He flew on STS-118 in August 2007.

paceflight experience

STS-106 Atlantis (September 8-20, 2000). During the 12-day mission, the crew prepared the International Space Station for the arrival of the first permanent crew. The five astronauts and two cosmonauts delivered more than 6,600 pounds of supplies and installed batteries, power converters, a toilet and a treadmill on the Space Station. Two crewmembers performed a space walk to connect power, data and communications cables to the newly arrived Zvezda Service Module and the Space Station. Mastracchio was the ascent/entry flight engineer, the primary robotic arm operator, and responsible for the transfer of items from the Space Shuttle to the Space Station. STS-106 orbited the Earth 185 times, and covered 4.9 million miles in 11 days, 19 hours, and 10 minutes.

STS-118 (August 8-21, 2007) was the 119th space shuttle flight, the 22nd flight to the station, and the 20th flight for Endeavour. During the mission Endeavour's crew successfully added another truss segment, a new gyroscope and external spare parts platform to the International Space Station. Mastracchio was the ascent/entry flight engineer and participated in three of the four spacewalks (EVAs). Traveling 5.3 million miles in space, the STS-118 mission was completed in 12 days, 17 hours, 55 minutes and 34 seconds.

External links

* [http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/mastracc.html NASA biography of Mastracchio]
* [http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/astronauts/english/mastracchio_richard.htm Spacefacts biography of Mastracchio]