Samuel T. Durrance

Infobox Astronaut
name =Samuel Thornton Durrance
type =Astronaut
nationality =American
date_birth =September 17, 1943
place_birth =Tallahassee, Florida
occupation =Scientist
selection =1984 NASA Group
time =25d 14h 13m
mission =STS-35, STS-67
insignia =|

Samuel Thornton Durrance (Ph.D.) is (at May 1996) a NASA payload specialist.

Background

Durrance was born September 17, 1943, in Tallahassee, Florida, but considers Tampa, Florida his hometown. He received a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Science degree in physics (with honors), at California State University, Los Angeles, 1972 and 1974, respectively, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in astrogeophysics at the University of Colorado at Boulder, 1980. He now resides in Melbourne, FL where he goes to church at Faith Fellowship church.

Dr. Durrance is a Principal Research Scientist in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. He is a co-investigator for the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope, one of the instruments of the Astro Observatory.

He is a member of the American Astronomical Society, American Geophysical Union, International Astronomical Union, Association of Space Explorers, Planetary Society, and Phi Kappa Phi.

Academic Experience

Dr. Durrance has been involved in the flight hardware development, optical and mechanical design, construction, and integration of the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope and the Astro Observatory. He has conducted research and directed graduate students at the Johns Hopkins University for the past 15 years. He has designed and built spectrometers, detectors, and imaging systems, and made numerous spacecraft and ground-based astronomical observations. He conceived and directed a program at Johns Hopkins University to develop adaptive-optics instrumentation for ground based astronomy. He led the team that designed and constructed the Adaptive Optics Coronagraph, which led to the discovery of a cool brown dwarf -- the first unambiguous detection. His research interests include the origin and evolution of the solar system, the search for planets around other stars, and the origin of life. He has published over 60 technical papers about spacecraft operations, planetary astronomy, adaptive optics, aeronomy, and nuclear physics.

Dr. Durrance has logged over 615 hours in space as a member of the crew of Space Shuttle Columbia for the STS-35/Astro-1 and Space Shuttle Endeavour for the STS-67/Astro-2 missions.

Current Assignment (2007)

Dr. Durrance is located at the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Florida, serving as a research professor.

External links

* [http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/PS/durrance.html Source]
* [http://www.spacefacts.de//bios/astronauts/english/durrance_samuel.htm Spacefacts biography of Samuel T. Durrance]